Abstract: Oils from Chinese sumac fruits collected from different areas were obtained by hexane extraction, cold pressing and hot pressing. The proximate components of Chinese sumac fruits were analyzed and the quality of the whole fruit oils was compared with that of the seed oils. The results showed the percentages of crude oil, crude protein and crude fiber in the whole fruits were 19.17%–19.62%, 8.87%–11.98%, and 25.20%–31.41%, respectively. The acid value and peroxide value of crude sumac fruit oil were 12.5–22.7 mg/g and 14.5–47.9 mmol/kg, respectively. It had a very deep color and was difficult to decolorize. The main fatty acids in the fruit oils were palmitic acid (25.92%–38.50%), oleic acid (14.77%–18.49%), linoleic acid (38.05%–54.30%), stearic acid (2.30%–3.26%) and α-linolenic acid (1.75%–2.56%). The content of vitamin E was 682.8–837.9 mg/kg and The contents of total flavonoids and sterol were 102.28–165.92 mg/100 mL and 37.28–108.07 mg/100 g, respectively. The contents of unsaturated fatty acids and linoleic acid (~70% and 54.30%) in the whole fruit oil were significantly lower than those (~90% and 74.08%) in the seed oil, whereas the content of palmitic acid (25.92%) showed an increase compared to 8.13% observed for the seed oil. In summary, there were large differences in crude oil quality and fatty acid composition between the sumac fruit and seed oils.

Key words: sumac fruit, sumac fruit oil, sumac fruit seed oil, fatty acid composition, vitamin E