Chemical and compositional structures (fatty acids, sterols, and tocopherols) of unconventional seed oils and their biological activities

Oils consider as a beneficial part of human’s daily diet. Growing population of the world and increasing standards of living, leads to the higher demand for edible oil with competitive price globally. In this regard, prompting researches to introduce alternative unconventional sources of oils, seems necessary. Nowadays, several unconventional oilseeds with rich components and affordable price for industrial purposes are available. Some of these unconventional oilseeds have magnificent potential for industries as raw material for various products synthesis such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries. Due to unique chemical properties of unconventional oilseeds constituents, they are important and may be introduced as new edible oil sources. Furthermore, these oilseeds have several features beneficial for human health and for the production of new patents. In most cases, their raw materials contain phytochemicals composition with significant biological activities. This chapter provides a comprehensive evaluation of oilseeds fatty acids and tocopherols. We also try to provide up to date knowledge about the biological activities of some new and important types of unconventional seed oil sources such as Pyrus glabra and Pyrus syriaca, Chrozophora tinctoria, Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk, Cucurbita pepo, Nigella sativa, and Lallemantia, etc. Hopefully this chapter will encourage other researchers and manufacturers to invest more on these plants in order to collect more information and build up ample knowledge of missed information for many unconventional oilseeds sources, which are of vital dietary and economic importance now and in future.