Tocopherol and fatty acid composition of some Indian pulses

The tocopherol and tocotrienol composition of the Indian pulses Bengal gram ( Cicer arietinum L.), blackgram ( Vigna mungo L.), green gram ( Vigna radiata L.), and horse gram ( Dolichos biflorus L.) were studied. The total tocopherol content ranged from 230 to 1567 mg/100 g fat, while the tocopherol content of the pulses as a whole ranged from 6.76 to 12.54 mg/100 g seed. Presence of such a high amount of tocopherol, both in the oil fraction of Indian pulses and in an oil fraction of a food material, is being reported for the first time. The fatty acid composition of the fat extracted from these pulses showed substantial amounts of unsaturated fatty acids (Bengal gram, 88.7%; black gram, 82.9%; green gram, 64.3%; and horse gram, 66.9%). These pulses contained 3.8 to 49.1% linolenic acid in the fat.