Lipid composition and antioxidant activities of Daucus maritimus seeds

Abstract

Daucus maritimus seeds were extracted successively with hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and ethanol in a soxhlet apparatus to provide four oily extracts named, respectively: HE, DM, EA and ET. The seed oils were analyzed for fatty acids, sterols, some physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant activities. The results of the analyses revealed that all oils contain an appreciable amount of unsaturated fatty acids (76.12-90.28%). The oleic acid was the dominating fatty acid in HE (62.07%), DM (73.16%) and E.A. (80.48%) oils whereas the petroselinic acid dominates in the ET oil (77.31 %). The dominant saturated acid was palmitic acid. The oils were also found to contain high levels of β-sitosterol (up to 67.90% of total sterols) and stigmasterol (up to 38.84% of total sterols). The antioxidant potential of all extracts was evaluated by radical scavenging activity using 2,2-diphenyl-l-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) assay and β-carotene bleaching method. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information.