**1. Introduction**

Plant seeds are an important source of oils and fats to meet nutritional, industrial, and pharmaceutical needs [1]. Oils and fats are composed of neutral lipids, majorly triglycerides, which are the sources of nutraceutical compounds that are an essential part of the human diet and major constituents for the storage of energy, structural and functional composition of cells [2]. Seed oil is used for the preparation of soap and detergents, cosmetics, and also used as ingredients for paint and varnishes, lubricants, and organic pesticides [3]. Oils rich in polyunsaturated fats have been related to the prevention of coronary heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, and depression, whereas cholesterol and saturated fats cause chronic diseases [4]. Many seed oils are reported to contain tocopherols, and they are considered as effective fat-soluble antioxidants present in the oil, which helps to protect cell membranes, improvement in blood circulation, and treating various diseases [5]. Most seeds and vegetable oils, such as groundnut, sunflower, soybean, and peanut, are the most important oil sources for cooking, canning, and preparations of emulsions and margarine [4].

The increasing population of the world is creating a shortage of food sources which permits the interest toward underutilized fruits. Seed oil and cake is the major portion of the human diet due to abundant nutrients, protection from oxidative stress, and several diseases. Seeds have beengiven special attention throughout the world, particularly underutilized fruits. As a biodiversity country, India has been a habitat for thousands of wild underutilized fruit seeds, which could be exploited directly as foods or used to obtain valuable natural compounds and derivatives [6].

Wood apple (*Limonia acidissima* L.) is an underutilized fruit-yielding tree species native to India and Sri Lanka (Figure 1A). Wood apple (Figure 1B) is used by the tribal and rural population of the developing world, which contributes to the traditional health system [6]. Extracts of wood apple are used traditionally for curing various diseases, such as antimicrobial, antifungal, liver, and cardiac tonic, dysentery, hiccough, sore throat, and is a good antidote for snakebite and used as a face cream to remove small spots and lesions on the skin. The phytochemical analysis of *L. acidissima* plant parts showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids, tannins, fats, sterols, saponins, glycosides, gum, mucilage, and fixed oils [7,8]. The small, numerous, and white seeds scattered throughout fruits(Figure 1C) showed an abundance in protein, carbohydrate, amino acid content and high amount of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), sodium (Na), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), magnesium (Mg) and manganese (Mn) [9]. However, no detailed reports are available on wood apple seed oil (Figure 1D). Therefore, the present study was aimed atanalyzing the fatty acid composition by GC-MS, tocopherols by HPLC/FD, and physico-chemical properties of seed oil, and nutritional analysis of wood apple seed cake.

**Figure 1.** Wood apple (*Limonia acidissima* L.)-Tree ( **A**), Fruit (**B**), Seeds ( **C**), and Oil ( **D**).

### **2. Materials and Methods**
