Chemical Characteristics and Fatty Acid Profile of Foxtail Millet Bran Oil

Chemical characteristics of a sample of foxtail millet bran and its oil, focusing on the approximate composition of foxtail millet bran and the fatty acid profile, physicochemical properties and tocopherol composition of foxtail millet bran oil, are presented in this work. The results indicate that the millet bran constituted 9.39 +/- 0.17% crude oil, 12.48 +/- 0.41% crude protein, and 51.69 +/- 2.14% crude fiber. The specific gravity, refractive index, saponification value, and unsaponifiable matter content of millet bran oil were 0.9185 +/- 0.0003 g/cm(3) (d(20)(20)), 1.4676 +/- 0.0002 (n(D)(40)), 186.29 +/- 0.51 mg KOH/g, and 3.62 +/- 0.19 g/100 g, respectively. The tocopherol content was 64.83 +/- 0.83 mg/100 g oil, which consisted mainly of gamma-tocopherol (48.79 +/- 0.46 mg/100 g oil) and alpha-tocopherol (15.53 +/- 0.31 mg/100 g oil). The millet bran oil was rich in linoleic acid (66.5%) and oleic acid (13.0%). The saturated fatty acids included palmitic acid (6.4%) and stearic acid (6.3%). The major fatty acid in the sn-2 position of the millet oil was linoleic acid (71.2%). The dominant triacylglycerols, calculated according to the 1,3-random-2-random hypothesis, were trilinoleate (LLL, 29.3%) and dilinoleoyl- monoolein (LLO, 17.2%). This work might be useful for developing applications for millet bran and its oil.