Triacylglycerol and Glycerophospholipid Identification and Accumulation During Ripening of Pistacia lentiscus L. (Lentisc) Fruit

Triacylglycerol (TAG) and phospholipid (PL) compositions of vegetable oils are considered a marker of quality and are often used in industry to control the purity of the oils and to detect adulteration. In this study, the TAG and PL composition of developing fruit of Pistacia lentiscus were investigated for the first time. The total TAG content was found to increase rapidly during fruit ripening from 105 to 966 mg/100 g of oil respectively between the 35th and the 175th day after fructification (DAF). During this period, 16 different molecular species of TAG were identified and quantified. POO was the major TAG from the second stage of maturation. Only four classes of PL were identified in the P. lentiscus oil: the phosphatidic acid (PA), the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), the phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and the phosphatidylinositol (PI). The mass spectra obtained showed the presence of nine molecular species of PA, five species of PE and seven molecular species for each PG and PI classes. The total phospholipid content decreased rapidly during fruit ripening, from 45.5 % at the 15th DAF to 6.88 % at the 175th DAF.