Bioactive properties of faveleira (Cnidoscolus quercifolius) seeds, oil and press cake obtained during oilseed processing

Abstract

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature concerning the bioactive properties of faveleira products. This work focuses on the physicochemical evaluation of faveleira oil, as well as it investigates the bioactive properties of faveleira seeds, faveleira oil and the press cake obtained during the oilseed processing. The seeds were cold pressed and the following tests were performed: physicochemical characteristics (acidity, peroxide values, moisture and volatile matter, density and viscosity) and fatty acid profile of faveleira oil; total phenolic and flavonoid content of faveleira seed and press cake; antibacterial activity of seed, oil and press cake; and antioxidant activity (DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power assay, total antioxidant capacity, superoxide radical scavenging assay and oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of seed, oil and press cake. Our work demonstrated that the faveleira seed oil has low acidity (0.78 ± 0.03% oleic acid) and peroxide value (1.13 ± 0.12 mEq/1000g), associated with the relevant concentration of linoleic acid (53.56%). It was observed that important phenolics (398.89 ± 6.34 mg EAG/100 g), especially flavonoids (29.81 ± 0.71 mg RE/g) remain in the press cake, which indicates that the by-product of the faveleira oilseed production constitutes a rich residual source of bioactive compounds. No bacterial growth inhibition was detected, but all samples including faveleira seeds, press cake, oil and its fractions have potent antioxidant activities, mainly the press cake, with oxygen radical absorbance capacity of 28.39 ± 4.36 μM TE/g. Our results also show that faveleira oil has potential to be used as edible oil and the press cake should be used to contain the most antioxidants from seed.

Determination of tocopherols and physicochemical properties of faveleira (Cnidoscolus quercifolius) seed oil extracted using different methods

“…Table 1 shows physicochemical properties of faveleira seed oil (Cnidoscolus quercifolius). FD CP showed better quality since low acidity level and peroxide values indicate better quality of edible oils (Ribeiro et al, 2017). FD CP showed lower acidity (p = 0.000), probably because it was not subjected to high temperatures during the process.…”

“…Ot stands out among other species for its high resistance to drought (Santos et al, 2017). The faveleira seed has high nutritional and industrial value (Medeiros et al, 2018) and is an oilseed with lipid levels (Ribeiro et al, 2017) higher than those in soybean, an oilseed of global importance (Anwar et al, 2016).The faveleira oil has potential for use as edible oil, high antioxidant activity and good thermal and oxidative stability (Santos et al, 2017), and predominance of unsaturated fatty acids (Ribeiro et al, 2017).…”

Physicochemical characterization, fatty acid profile, antioxidant activity and antibacterial potential of cacay oil, coconut oil and cacay butter

“…Several studies report that vegetable lipids present less than 1% moisture and volatile matter [24,27,28]. Moreover, low moisture indicates higher resistance to microbial degradation.…”

“…Similar behavior was found for faveleira (Cnidoscolus quercifolius) oil and its fractions. This suggests that the compounds present in the samples can lead to an antagonistic effect when mixed, thereby decreasing their antioxidant activity [27].…”

Chemical composition of faveleira (Cnidoscolus phyllacanthus) seeds collected in different seasons

“…Faveleira seed and its oil have antioxidant activities. The by-product of the oil production is a source of phenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids, thus, it has physicochemical properties that may indicate its use as edible oil (Ribeiro et al, 2017).…”