o:7491 CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CHOKEBERRY SEEDS AND THEIR DERIVED OIL: COMPOSITION AND POTENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS en Chokeberries are a rich source of bioactive compounds with potential health benefits for humans. The high concentrations of polyphenols, such as phenolic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins, flavanols, and proanthocyanidins, play a key role in their remarkable bioactivity. Chokeberry seeds, as well as oil obtained from them, can also be consumed as a food component, though it is less commonly found in typical diets. The aim of this research was to investigate the characteristics and nutrient composition of chokeberry seeds and the oil extracted from them. The oil was extracted using hexane as a solvent in a Soxhlet extractor for 6 hours at 60°C. Before analysis, fatty acids were converted into fatty acid methyl esters using a standard sulfuric acid procedure. Tocopherols and tocotrienols were analyzed using normal-phase HPLC with a fluorescence detector, while carotenoids were analyzed using normal-phase HPLC with a diode array detector. The seed oil demonstrated a high degree of unsaturation. Gas chromatography analysis revealed that the major unsaturated fatty acid was alpha-linolenic acid (80.0%), followed by oleic acid (10.4%). The main saturated fatty acid was palmitic acid (5.2%). Chokeberry seeds were also found to be rich in tocopherols, with α-tocopherol being the most prevalent (21.7 mg/100 g of seed), followed by β-tocopherol (3.3 mg/100 g). As for tocotrienols, only γ- tocotrienol was detected, with a content of 0.7 mg/100 g of seed. HPLC analysis also identified carotenoids, with (E)-β-carotene as the dominant compound (3.7 mg/100 g), followed by lutein (1.2 mg/100 g). The antioxidant capacity of chokeberry seeds was assessed using the hydrophilic trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (HTEAC) assay, while the lipophilic antioxidant capacity of the oil was measured using the α-TEAC assay. Chokeberry seeds exhibited a significant H-TEAC value of 20.5 ± 0.9 mmol TE/100 g dry weight (DW), and the oil demonstrated an antioxidant activity of 50.7 μmol α-TE/100 g. The nutrient composition and antioxidant properties of chokeberry seeds and their oil suggest they may offer health benefits to consumers. These findings highlight the potential of chokeberry seeds and oil as valuable sources for the development of new multi-purpose products in industries such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food. seed oil, fatty acids, carotenoids, tocopherols 1552100 978-86-7520-629-3 2025-04-17T07:35:50.905Z 44 no 46 Jelena Živković Institute for Medicinal Plant Research ''Dr. Josif Pančić'' Belgrade 0000-0002-9684-2637 46 Dejan Pljevljakušić Institute for Medicinal Plants Research "Dr Josif Pančić" Belgrade 0000-0003-2362-8290 46 Dubravka Bigović Institute for Medicinal Plants Research "Dr Josif Pančić" Belgrade 0000-0003-1999-2743 46 Katarina Šavikin Institute for Medicinal Plant Research, ''Dr. Josif Pančić'' Belgrade 0000-0002-2086-9593 application/pdf 1191708 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:7491 no yes 1 70 92000004 71A10 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS PTEP 2025 45 46 NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SUSTAINABLE POSTHARVEST AND FOOD TECHNOLOGIES INOPTEP 2025 and XXXVII NATIONAL CONFERENCE PROCESSING AND ENERGY IN AGRICULTURE 2025