The bioactive compounds and "in vitro" antioxidant activity measured by three antioxidant assays of some traditional and non-traditional cold-pressed edible oils from Macedonia were object of this study. The fatty acid composition showed dominance of monounsaturated oleic acid in "sweet" and "bitter" apricot kernel oils with percentages of 66.7 ± 0.5 and 57.8 ± 0.3%, respectively. The most dominant fatty acid in paprika seed oil was polyunsaturated linoleic acid with abundance of 69.6 ± 2.3%. The most abundant tocopherol was γ-tocopherol with the highest quantity in sesame seed oil (57.6 ± 0.1 mg/100 g oil). Paprika seed oil, sesame seed oil and sweet apricot oil were the richest source of phytosterols. DPPH assay was the most appropriate for the determination of the antioxidant activity of cold-pressed sunflower oil due to high abundance of α-tocopherol with a level of 22.8 ± 1.1 mg/100 g of oil. TEAC assay is the best for the determination of the antioxidant activity of sesame seed oil and paprika seed oils as the richest sources of phenolic compounds. β-carotene assay was the most suitable assay for oils obtained from high pigmented plant material. Triacylglycerols and phytosterol profiles can be used as useful markers for the origin, variety and purity of the oils.
This research work was executed to determine chemical composition, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial potential of the essential oils extracted from the leaves and stem of Daphne mucronata Royle. From leaves and stem oils fifty-one different constituents were identified through GC/MS examination. The antioxidant potential evaluated through DPPH free radical scavenging activity and %-inhibition of peroxidation in linoleic acid system. The stem's essential oil showed the good antioxidant activity as compared to leaves essential oil. Results of Antimicrobial activity revealed that both stem and leaves oils showed strong activity against Candida albicans with large inhibition zone (22.2 ± 0.01, 18.9 ± 0.20 mm) and lowest MIC values (0.98 ± 0.005, 2.44 ± 0.002 mg/mL) respectively. Leaves essential was also active against Escherichia coli with inhibition zone of 8.88 ± 0.01 mm and MIC values of 11.2 ± 0.40 mg/mL. These results suggested that the plant's essential oils would be a potential cradle for the natural product based antimicrobial as well as antioxidant agents.
Mushrooms have been highly regarded as possessing enormous nutritive and medicinal values. In the present study, we evaluated the anti-oxidative and anti-atherosclerotic potential of shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) using its solvent-solvent partitioned fractions that consisted of methanol:dichloromethane (M:DCM), hexane (HEX), dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EA) and aqueous residue (AQ). The hexane fraction (1 mg/mL) mostly scavenged (67.38%, IC50 0.55 mg/mL) the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical, contained the highest reducing capacity (60.16 mg gallic acid equivalents/g fraction), and most potently inhibited lipid peroxidation (67.07%), low density lipo-protein oxidation and the activity of 3-hydroxy 3-methyl glutaryl co-enzyme A reductase (HMGR). GC-MS analyses of the hexane fraction identified α-tocopherol (vitamin E), oleic acid, linoleic acid, ergosterol and butyric acid as the bio-functional components present in L. edodes. Our findings suggest that L. edodes possesses anti-atherosclerotic bio-functionality that can be applied as functional food-based therapeutics against cardiovascular diseases.
Marine fungus Fusarium proliferatum derived from marine sponge collected along Pulau Tinggi, Malaysia was cultivated on Potato Dextrose Broth and incubated for 7 days at 30oC. The liquid cultures were then extracted using ethyl acetate. The crude extract was investigated for its anti-microbial activity and was passed through Sephadex column and the fractions were collected. Reverse phase HPLC was used to monitor the component of crude extract. HPLC guided purification of crude extract resulted in the isolation of linoleic acid, 4-hydroxy phenethyl alcohol, 2,5-furandimethanol and adenosine. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods.
The seeds of C. cleomifolia (locally known as kacang hantu) collected along Simpang Pulai - Berinchang Road, Cameron Highlands, was defatted with hexane and the resulting oil was analysed for their physico-chemical properties. The percentage yield of the oil was calculated as 5.3%. The acid value (1.2%), iodine value (85), peroxide value (0.6), saponification value (192.0) and unsaponifiable matter (2.3%) were determined to assess the quality of the oil. The physico-chemical characterisation showed that C. cleomifolia seeds oil is unsaturated semi-drying oil, with high saponifi cation and acidic values. The fatty acid composition of C. cleomifolia seed oil was determined by Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (ToF). The seed oil of C. cleomifolia contained linoleic acid (57.59%) and palmitic acid (5.07%), the most abundant unsaturated and saturated fatty acids, respectively. The polyunsaturated triacylglycerol (TAG) in C. cleomifolia seed oil determined by reverse phase High performance Liquid Chromatography; contained as PLL (18.04%) followed by POL + SLL (11.92%), OOL (7.04%) and PLLn (6.31%). The melting and cooling point of the oil were 16.22°C and -33.54°C, respectively
The capacity of crustaceans to biosynthesise long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids has yet to be fully defined, due to the lack of evidence on the functional activities of enzymes involved in desaturation or elongation of fatty acid substrates. We report here the cloning and in vitro functional analysis of an elongase from the orange mud crab, Scylla olivacea. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis placed the elovl close to the vertebrate Elovl1 and Elovl7 clade, which is distinct from the other remaining five Elovl families. The elongase was also clustered together with several elongases from crustaceans and insects. This elongase showed activities towards 16:1n-7, and at lower rate, linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and linolenic acid (18:3n-3). To our knowledge this is the first description of a functional enzyme involved in biosynthesis of long-chained polyunsaturated fatty acids in a crustacean species. Expression of the S. olivacea elovl7-like mRNA was prominent in stomach, intestine and gill tissues, due to the need to regulate the permeability of epithelial tissue through modification of fatty acid compositions. The implication of our findings, in terms of ability of Crustacea phylum to biosynthesise polyunsaturated fatty acids is discussed.
Third generation biofuels, also known as microalgal biofuels, are promising alternatives to fossil fuels. One attractive option is microalgal biodiesel as a replacement for diesel fuel. Chlamydomonas sp. Tai-03 was previously optimized for maximal lipid production for biodiesel generation, achieving biomass growth and productivity of 3.48 ± 0.04 g/L and 0.43 ± 0.01 g/L/d, with lipid content and productivity of 28.6 ± 1.41% and 124.1 ± 7.57 mg/L/d. In this study, further optimization using 5% CO2 concentration and semi-batch operation with 25% medium replacement ratio, enhanced the biomass growth and productivity to 4.15 ± 0.12 g/L and 1.23 ± 0.02 g/L/d, with lipid content and productivity of 19.4 ± 2.0% and 239.6 ± 24.8 mg/L/d. The major fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1), and linoleic acid (C18:2). These short-chain FAMEs combined with high growth make Chlamydomonas sp. Tai-03 a suitable candidate for biodiesel synthesis.
The aim of this study was to evaluate on how heat treatments by microwave oven may affect the oxidative degradation of sunflower oil (SFO) and its blend with palm olein (Po). The blend was prepared in the volume ratio of 40:60 (Po: SFO, PSF). The samples were exposed to microwave heating at medium power setting, for different periods. In this study, refractive index, free fatty acid content, peroxide value, p-anisidine value, total oxidation (Tomx), specific extinction, viscosity, polymer content, polar compounds and food oil sensor value of the oils all increased, whereas iodine value and C 18:21C16:0 ratio decreased as microwave heating progressed. Microwave heating temperature increased with increasing heating time and longer heating times resulted in a greater degree of oil deterioration. The percentage of linoleic acid tended to decrease, whereas the percentage of palmitic acid increased. The effect of adding PO to SFO on the formation of free fatty acids and conjugated dienes during microwave treatment was not significant (p< 0.05). No significant differences in food oil sensor value was observed between SFO and PSF. Based on the most oxidative stability criteria, it can be concluded that the microwave heating caused the formation of comparatively lower amounts of oxidation products in PSF compared to SFO, indicating a lower extent of oxidative degradation of PSF.
The efficacy of pandan leaf extract (PLE) addition on the oxidative degradation of sunflower oil (SFO) during microwave heating was studied. 80% of methanol extract showed better antioxidant action than the 100% methanol or ethanol extract and the total phenolic contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity and linoleic acid system of PLE were found to be 1845.50 mg GAE/100 g, 60.62-89.87% and 82.21%, respectively. 80% of methanolic extracts at different concentrations (0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 wt. %) were added to SFO. The antioxidant treated and control oil samples were subjected to microwave heating and were analyzed at regular intervals for the extent of oxidative changes following the measurements of peroxide value, p-anisidine value, TOTOX, free fatty acid, specific extinction, iodine value, viscosity, polar compounds and fatty acid composition. The PLE were found to be quite effective towards suppressing the primary and secondary oxidation products in the tested oil. The order of effectiveness (p<0.05) was BHA > 0.4% PLE > 0.2% PLE > 0.1% PLE > control. The present results suggested that antioxidant extract from pandan leaf might be used to protect vegetable oils from oxidation.
The evolution of cosmetic products results in the growing demands for cosmetics that are preservatives free. Plant essential oils were found to be a promising antimicrobial and also antioxidant agent. In this study, Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass), Laurus nobilis (bay leaf) and Backhousia citriodora (lemon myrtle) essential oils were selected and evaluated for their antimicrobial properties. It was found that Laurus nobilis exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against the selected bacteria Streptococcus saprophyticus (ATCC 49619), Streptococcus aureus (ATCC 22923), Streptococcus pyogenes (ATCC 29436), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 13048), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 700603), Escherichia coli (ATCC 22922) with MIC ranging between 7.8 ug/mL to 250 μg/mL. The antioxidant activity of selected essential oils was determined by antioxidant assays which were 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay (DPPH), determination of ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP) and β-Carotene/linoleic acid bleaching assay. Backhousia citriodora and Laurus nobilis showed the highest antioxidant activity.
n-Octanal and β-Selinene were identified to be the major components with peak area of 26.37 % and 13.92 % respectively in secondary metabolites analysis by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS).
In the present work, the influence of microwave power and heating times on the quality
degradation of corn oil was evaluated. Microwave heating test was carried out using a domestic
microwave oven for different periods at low- and medium-power settings for the corn oil sample.
The changes in physicochemical characteristics related to oil degradation of the samples during
heating were determined by standard methods. In this study, refractive index, free fatty acid
content, peroxide value, p-anisidine value, TOTOX value, viscosity and total polar compound
of the oils all increased with increasing heating power and time of exposure. In GLC analysis,
the percentage of linoleic acid tended to decrease, whereas the percentage of palmitic, stearic
and oleic acids increased. The C18:2/C16:0 ratio decreased in all oil samples with increasing
heating times. Exposing the corn oil to various microwave power settings and heating periods
caused the formation of hydroperoxides and secondary oxidation products. The heating reduced
the various tocopherol isomers in corn oil and highest reduction was detected in γ-tocopherol.
Longer microwave heating times resulted in a greater degree of oil deterioration. Microwave
heating caused the formation of comparatively lower amounts of some degradative products in
the oil samples heated at low-power setting compared to medium-power setting. The present
analysis indicated that oil quality was affected by both microwave power and heating time.
This study was conducted on selected local herbs such as ulam raja (Cosmos caudatus), kesum (Polygonum minus), selom (Oenanthe javanica), pegaga (Centella asiatica) and curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) to investigate their antioxidative activities. The water extracts of the herbs were analysed for total phenolic content, reducing antioxidant power, ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test was also accried out. Polygonum minus showed the highest total phenolic content and reducing power among the herbs. Increasing the concentration of the extracts resulted in increased Fe3+ reducing antioxidant power for all the herbs. FTC and TBA tests on the extracts during seven days of storage showed that all the herbs extracts had the ability to reduce oxidation compared to the control (P < 0.05). From the FTC analysis, Murraya koenigii leaves was best in reducing the oxidation rate (67.67%) compared to the other herbs studied. Analysis of TBA showed that Centella asiatica extract had the highest antioxidant effect. However, both TBA and FTC analysis for these two herbs showed no significant difference (P >0.05) from Polygonum minus and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHT) a synthetic antioxidant. Correlation analysis showed positive correlations between amount of total phenolic content and reducing power (r = 0.75) and antioxidative activities (r = 0.58) in linoleic acid emulsion system. This shows that antioxidative activities of these Malaysian herbal plants especially Polygonum minus may be a potential source of natural antioxidants with similar characteristics to the synthetic antioxidant, BHT.
The present study was carried out to characterize red fruit (Pandanus conoideus Lam) oil (RFO) in term of FTIR spectra, fatty acid composition, and volatile compounds. FTIR spectrum of RFO was slightly
different from other common vegetable oils and animal fats, in which in the frequency range of 1750 – 1700 cm-1, RFO appear two bands. The main fatty acid composition of RFO is oleic acid accounting for 68.80% followed by linoleic acid with the concentration of 8.49%. The main volatile compounds of RFO as determined using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and headspace analyser are 1,3-dimethylbenzene (27.46%), N-glycyl- L-alanine (17.36%), trichloromethane (15.22%), and ethane (11.43%).
In this study, the effect of different solvent including ethanol, n-hexane and ethyl acetate on antioxidant
activity and total phenolic content (TPC) of winter melon (Benincasa hispida) seeds extract was investigated using conventional Soxhlet extraction (CSE). DPPH and ABTS scavenging activity and TPC results indicated that the seed extracts obtained using ethanol possessed the highest antioxidant activity and followed by ethyl acetate and n-hexane. By considering obtained results, it was clear that there was a high positive correlation between TPC and antioxidant activity. Linoleic acid forms a significant percentage of unsaturated fatty acids of the seed extract (60.6%). It is well known that essential fatty acids including linoleic acid and linolenic acid which are detected in extracts play important roles in preventing many disease and abnormal differentiation problems. B. hispida seeds are potential source of natural antioxidant compounds to replace synthetic antioxidants.
This study evaluated and compared the antioxidant capacity between freshly prepared and lactic fermented Malaysian herbal teas. Herbal teas are rich in antioxidants. Fermentation has been known to be the oldest and cost effective method with the ability to preserve or improve food nutritional qualities. Information on the antioxidant capacity of lactic fermented food or beverage is still lacking. Hence, the objective of this study is to determine the changes in the antioxidant properties of Malaysian herbal teas after being subjected to lactic fermentation. Commercially available local herbal teas were used for this study. Herbal teas such as “Allspice”, “Scaphium”, “Gora” and “Cinnamon” were purchased from the local store in Malaysia and were subjected to 24-hour lactic fermentation. Lactic fermented herbal teas were analyzed for their total phenolic, total flavonoid and antioxidant properties via DPPH, FRAP, and β-carotene linoleate bleaching assay. All lactic fermented herbal teas exhibited higher phenolic contents, flavonoid contents and antioxidant properties compared to the freshly-prepared herbal teas with majority showing significant changes (p < 0.05) in FRAP and β-carotene bleaching assay. Lactic fermented herbal teas also showed an increase in antioxidant capacity in DPPH assay, however non-significant changes were observed.
Lipid biosynthesis and fatty acids composition of oleaginous zygomycetes, namely Cunninghamella bainieri 2A1, cultured in media with excess or limited nitrogen were quantitatively determined at different times of culture growth. Accumulation of lipids occurred even when the activity of NAD(+)-ICDH (β-Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-isocitrate dehydrogenase) was still detectable in both media. In C. bainieri 2A1, under nitrogen limitation, the ratio of lipids was around 35%, whereas in nitrogen excess medium (feeding media supplemented with ammonium tartarate), the lipid ratio decreased. The amount of this decrease depended on the level of ammonium tartarate in the media. The main findings in this paper were that C. bainieri 2A1 has the ability to accumulate lipid although nitrogen concentration detected inside the media and that NAD-ICDH was active in all culture periods. These results proved that the strain C. bainieri 2A1 has an alternative behavior in lipid biosynthesis that differs from yeast. According to the old hypotheses, yeasts could not accumulate lipid more than 10% when nitrogen was detected inside the media. Nitrogen-limited and excess media both contained the same fatty acids (palmitic acid, stearic acid, olic acid, linoleic acid and γ-linolenic acid), but at different concentrations. The C:N ratio was also studied and showed no effects on total lipid accumulation, but a significant effect on γ-linolenic acid concentration.
Effect of supercritical CO2 extracted Nigella sativa L. seed extract (NE) on frying performance of sunflower oil and refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm olein was investigated at concentrations of 1.2 % and 1.0 % respectively. Two frying systems containing 0 % N. sativa L. extract (Control) and 0.02 % butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were used for comparison. Physicochemical properties such as fatty acid composition (FAC), Peroxide Value (PV), Anisidine Value (AV), Totox Value (TV), Total Polar Content (TPC), C18:2/C16:0 ratio and viscosity of frying oils were determined during five consecutive days of frying. Results have shown that N. sativa L. extract was able to improve the oxidative stability of both frying oils during the frying process compared to control. The stabilizing effect of antioxidants were in the order of BHT > NE. RBD palm olein was found to be more stable than sunflower oil based on the ratio of linoleic acid (C18:2) to palmitic acid (C16:0) and fatty acid composition.
The seeds of Terminalia catappa from Malaysia were analyzed for their physicochemical properties. The following values were obtained: moisture 6.23 ± 0.09 %, ash 3.78 ± 0.04 %, lipid 54.68 ± 0.14 %, protein 17.66 ± 0.13 %, total dietary fibre 9.97 ± 0.08 %, carbohydrate 7.68 ± 0.06 %, reducing sugar 1.36 ± 0.16 %, starch 1.22 ± 0.15 %, caloric value 593.48 ± 0.24 %. Studies were also conducted on amino acid profile and free fatty acid composition of the seed oil. Results revealed that glutamic acid was the major essential amino acid while methionine and lysine were the limiting amino acids. The major saturated fatty acid was palmitic acid, while the main unsaturated fatty acid was oleic acid followed by linoleic acid. In addition, the seed was rich in sucrose and had trace amount of glucose and fructose. Briefly, the seed was high in proteins and lipids which are beneficial to human.
For the very first time, the nutritional and physicochemical properties of the oil extracted from hackberry Celtis australis fruit were investigated with the aim of possible applications of such wild fruit oil. The physicochemical properties such as peroxide value, acidity, saponification, iodine value and total fat content of the extracted oil were examined extensively. The obtained results showed that peroxide value, acidity, saponification, iodine value and total fat content of the extracted oil were found to be 4.9 meq O2/kg fat, 0.9 mg KOH/g fat, 193.6 mg KOH/g fat, 141.52 mg I2/g fat and ~5%, respectively. The predominant fatty acid found in this wild fruit is linoleic acid which was calculated to be 73.38%±1.24. In addition, gamma-tocopherol (87%) and β-sitosterol (81.2%±1.08) were the major tocopherol and sterol compositions found in Celtis australis seed oil. Moreover, equivalent carbon number (ECN) analysis has indicated that the three linoleic acids are the main composition of the triacylglycerols extracted from Celtis australis. Also, the high value of omega 6 and β-sitosterol make this oil applicable in cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications.
An experiment was conducted on broiler chickens to study the effects of different dietary fats (Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), fish oil, soybean oil, or their mixtures, as well as palm oil, as a more saturated fat), with a as fed dose of 7% for single fat and 3.5 + 3.5% for the mixtures, on Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (PPARs) gene expression and its relation with body fat deposits. The CLA used in this experiment was CLA LUTA60 which contained 60% CLA, so 7% and 3.5% dietary inclusions of CLA LUTA60 were equal to 4.2% and 2.1% CLA, respectively. Higher abdominal fat pad was found in broiler chickens fed with a diet containing palm oil compared to chickens in the other experimental groups (P ≤ 0.05). The diets containing CLA resulted in an increased fat deposition in the liver of broiler chickens (P ≤ 0.05). The only exception was related to the birds fed with diets containing palm oil or fish oil + soybean oil, where contents of liver fat were compared to the CLA + fish oil treatment. PPARγ gene in adipose tissue of chickens fed with palm oil diet was up-regulated compared to other treatments (P ≤ 0.001), whereas no significant differences were found in adipose PPARγ gene expression between chickens fed with diets containing CLA, fish oil, soybean oil or the mixture of these fats. On the other hand, the PPARα gene expression in liver tissue was up-regulated in response to the dietary fish oil inclusion and the differences were also significant for both fish oil and CLA + fish oil diets compared to the diets with palm oil, soybean oil or CLA as the only oil source (P ≤ 0.001). In conclusion, the results of present study showed that there was a relationship between the adipose PPARγ gene up-regulation and abdominal fat pad deposition for birds fed with palm oil diet, while no deference was detected in n-3 and n-6 fatty acids, as well as CLA on PPARγ down regulation in comparison to a more saturated fat. When used on its own, fish oil was found to be a more effective fat in up-regulating hepatic PPARα gene expression and this effect was related to a less fat deposition in liver tissue. A negative correlation coefficient (-0.3) between PPARα relative gene expression and liver tissue fat content confirm the anti-lipogenic effect of PPARα, however, the change in these parameters was not completely parallel.