*3.1. Biochemical Composition of Sea-Buckthorn Seed Oil*

Considering the important role of polyunsaturated fatty acids in skin growth and protection, we conducted a few experiments in order to estimate the composition of the tested sea-buckthorn seed oil. Linoleic acid was the main component (28.5% of the total fatty acid content), followed by palmitic acid (24.4%), linolenic acid (19.7%), oleic acid (12.6%) and palmitoleic acid (9.2%). Only small amounts of myristic and stearic acid were found in the tested oil (2.3 and 3.2%, respectively). A general screening of the volatile constituents of seed oil was also performed by using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Based on the total peak area, fatty acids represented 61% of the volatile compounds, with the other main components being sitosterol (12.4%), vitamin E (6.2%), α- and β-amyrin (2.14 and 3.3%, respectively) and fucosterol (1.96%) (Figure 1). The distribution of fatty acids was similar to that assessed by LC/MS. – α and β

– **Figure 1.** The chemical composition of the volatile fraction of sea-buckthorn seed oil, as assessed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.
