Current industrial sources of tocotrienols are almost entirely composed of tropical monocots. However, recent reports have observed significant tocotrienol (T3) contents in eudicot families, including Passifloraceae. While passion fruits are also tropical, their cultivation is not strictly limited to rainforests, and seeds are often a by-product of fruit processing. To elucidate tocochromanol production in the Passifloraceae family, seeds (54 samples representing 18 species) were gathered from botanical gardens worldwide. Ultrasound-assisted extraction in ethanol (UAEE) was compared with the standard saponification protocol as a greener alternative. Tocotrienols constituted a major percentage (48–91%) of Passifloraceae species’ seed tocochromanols, and γ-T3 (12–53%) and δ-T3 (8–68%) were major contributors. Although a higher δ-T3 content was observed in some Passiflora species, it was less consistent than the γ-T3 content between and within species. The highest total tocochromanol content was observed in P. subpeltata (28.98 ± 5.83 mg 100 g−1 dry weight). The UAEE protocol recovered tocotrienols and tocopherols at degrees similar to those of saponification (100% and 93%, respectively). Therefore, UAEE could also be proposed for the effective recovery of these valuable phytochemicals from by-products of Passiflora fruits.
Lazdiņa et al. (Fri,) studied this question.