Fatty acid and carotenoid composition of gac (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng) fruit

In this study, we analyzed fatty acid and carotenoid composition of fruit tissues, including seed (which are surrounded by a bright red, oily aril) of Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng, known as gac in Vietnam. Carotenoid content was analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC, using a C-30 column and a method separating cis- and trans-isomers of the major carotenoids in this fruit. Mean values obtained in aril tissues were 1342 mug trans-, 204 mug cis-, and 2227 mug total lycopene; 597 mug trans-, 39 mug cis-, and 718 mug total beta-carotene; and 107 mug alpha-carotene/g FW. Mesocarp contained 11 mug trans-, 5 mug cis-beta-carotene/g FW, trace amounts of alpha-carotene, and no lycopene. Gac aril contained 22% fatty acids by weight, composed of 32% oleic, 29% palmitic, and 28% linoleic acids. Seeds contained primarily stearic acid (60.5%), smaller amounts of linoleic (20%), oleic (9%), and palmitic (5-6%) acids, and trace amounts of arachidic, cis-vaccenic, linolenic, and palmitoleic, eicosa-11-enoic acids, and eicosa-13-enoic (in one fruit only) acids.