Characterization of Chionanthus retusus fruits: contents and composition of oil, fatty acids, phytosterols, and tocopherols

Abstract Chionanthus retusus is a deciduous shrub or small tree in the Oleaceae with important ornamental and economic value. In this study, fruits were collected from 22 individual C. retusus plants to study their morphological characteristics, oil content, and the contents and composition of fatty acids, phytosterols, and tocopherol. The average fruit fresh biomass, grain dry biomass, kernel dry biomass, and kernel percentage were 76.432 ± 20.75 g, 24.370 ± 6.52 g, 12.122 ± 3.21 g, and 50.16%, respectively. The average oil content of the kernels was 36.55%, ranging between 28.90% and 47.50%.The average total phytosterols content was 280.33 ± 43.96 mg/100 g. The average total tocopherols content was 578.31 ± 101.29 µg/g. In correlation analyses, the oil content was negatively correlated with the total phytosterols content (r = − 0.653, P < 0.01) and positively correlated with kernel weight (r = 0.762, P < 0.01). In principal component analyses, the first two principal components explained 77.1%,72.2%, and 91.2% of the total variance of fatty acid, phytosterol, and tocopherol composition, respectively. These results allowed us to identify germplasm resources with high oil yield, high oleic acid content, high phytosterol content, and high tocopherol content.