Comparison of Volatile Compounds in Sesame Oil and Sesame Cake Extract

Abstract

Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is one of the most important oilseed crops in the world due to its high level of lipid content and health benefits. Its seeds have high amounts of fat, protein, mineral, phenolic and volatile compounds. In addition, its oil, cake and shell also contain a high proportion of these components. Sesame cake is a by-product of the edible oil industry which could be recovered and used as a value-added product. In this study, it was aimed to compare volatile compounds in cold press sesame oil and its cake extract. The volatile compounds were extracted using purge and trap extraction and identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The main volatile compounds were composed of aldehydes, alcohols, terpenes, pyrazines, ketones, furans and lactones. These compounds were identified as the dominant volatile groups and their amounts were significantly lesser in sesame cake samples than the sesame oil. Among these volatiles, hexanal was found in high levels in sesame oil while it was absent in the cake extract.