Oils produced from nuts and seeds, are receiving growing interest attribute to their high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), which have shown various type of health benefits. The present work was undertaken to determine the fatty acids composition of apricot oil extracted from irradiated and un-irradiated apricot kernel grown in Syria. Kernels of apricot were exposed to a doses of 0, 6 and 9 kGy of gamma ray, and stored for 0, and 12 months. The fatty acids (FAs) of apricot kernel oil were carried out by gas chromatography. Apricot kernel oil contain about 93.18-95.26% unsaturated and 4.74-6.82% saturated fatty acids. Thus the ratio between unsaturates and saturates (UFA/SFA) were reported as range from 13.67 to 20.12. The major fatty acids of apricot kernel are palmitic acid (C16:0) from 4.16% to 5.84%; palmitoleic acid (C16:1) from 0.48% to 0.96%; stearic acid (C18:0) from 0.58% to 1.40%; oleic acid (C18:1) 60.61% to 77.38%; and linoleic acid (C18:2) 15.99% to 31.79%. Irradiation of apricot kernel with 6 and 9 kGy of gamma ray did not significantly affect the fatty acids profile of apricot kernel oil. The obtained results demonstrated the ability of using apricot kernel oil as the edible oil. Gamma irradiation of apricot kernel did not affect the fatty acids profile and retained PUFAs in oil extracted from apricot kernels.
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