Antioxidant and cytotoxicity effects of seed oils from edible fruits

Objective: To propose a natural remedy for the some acute diseases the fatty acids profile, antioxidant and cytotoxicity potentials of seed oils from natural sources have been examined. Methods: The fatty acids profile of seed oils from sweet orange, grape, lime and watermelon obtained by soxhlet extraction were trans esterified and examined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC MS). The antioxidant activity using 2,2 dipheny1-1-picrylhydrazyl assay were examined and compared with gallic acid and alpha-tocopherol while the cytotoxicity were examined via the brine shrimp cytotoxicity assay using cyclophosphamide as a reference standard. Results: Sweet orange seed contained 9,12 octadecadienoic acid (62.18%), grape seed, erucic acid (43.17), lime seed, oleic acid (52.42%) and watermelon seed linoleic acid (61.11%) as the major fatty acid present. Among the four oils tested, grape seed oil had the highest acute toxicity with LC50 value of (156.2 +/- 0.37) mu g/mL while orange seed oil had the highest lethal toxicity with LC50 (7.59 +/- 0.35) mu g/mL value. Lime seed oil IC50 (14.49 +/- 3.54) mu g/mL showed the highest antioxidant potential of about 70% at 1 mglmL concentration which was more significant than the reference compounds gallic acid and alpha-tocopherol with IC50 value of (201.10 +/- 1.65) and (54.86 +/- 2.38) mu g/mL respectively. The yield of oil from these seeds varied from 9.583% to 24.790% with the oils being rich in essential fatty acids. Conclusion: Utilization of the seeds will reduce wastes, improve commercialization and procures hitherto neglected substances for technological and nutritional applications.