Abstract
Summary: This study is concerned with the effect of the process of roasting of naked pumpkin seeds prior to its pressing on the chemical composition and oxidative stability of the extracted oil. Ground seeds were roasted at temperatures of 90, 110 and 130 °C for 30 and 60 min, according to the traditional technology of production of roasted pumpkin oil. Depending on the roasting conditions of the seeds, this treatment resulted in a significant increase of the contents of phospholipids (from 0.005 to 0.463%), total phenolic compounds (from 4.63 to 19.60 mg/kg), and total tocopherols (from 265.79 to 350.98 mg/kg) in oil. Higher contents of these minor components enhanced the oxidative stability of the oil, i.e. increased the induction period (from 4.50 to 12.93 h). However, at the same time, the applied thermal treatment generated an increase in the primary and secondary oxidation products, resulting in higher Totox values that could lower the quality of the oil.