Oil palm vegetation liquor: a new source of phenolic bioactives

Abstract

Waste from agricultural products represents a disposal liability, which needs to be addressed. Palm oil is the most widely traded edible oil globally, and its production generates 85 million tons of aqueous by-products annually. This aqueous stream is rich in phenolic antioxidants, which were investigated for their composition and potential in vitro biological activity. We have identified three isomers of caffeoylshikimic acid as major components of oil palm phenolics (OPP). The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay confirmed potent free radical scavenging activity. To test for possible cardioprotective effects of OPP, we carried out in vitro LDL oxidation studies as well as ex vivo aortic ring and mesenteric vascular bed relaxation measurements. We found that OPP inhibited the Cu-mediated oxidation of human LDL. OPP also promoted vascular relaxation in both isolated aortic rings and perfused mesenteric vascular beds pre-contracted with noradrenaline. To rule out developmental toxicity, we performed teratological studies on rats up to the third generation and did not find any congenital anomalies. Thus, these initial studies suggest that OPP is safe and may have a protective role against free radical damage, LDL oxidation and its attendant negative effects, as well as vascular constriction in mitigating atherosclerosis. Oil palm vegetation liquor thus represents a new source of phenolic bioactives.

Gene Expression Changes in Spleens and Livers of Tumour-Bearing Mice Suggest Delayed Inflammation and Attenuated Cachexia in Response to Oil Palm Phenolics

“…OPP contains numerous phenolic acids including three isomers of caffeoylshikimic acid, protocatechuic acid and p -hydroxybenzoic acid. The detailed composition of OPP is as described earlier [22]. …”

“…Water-soluble phenolics extracted from the oil palm vegetation liquor [21], termed oil palm phenolics (OPP) [22], also showed significant biological activities against cancer cells in vitro [23] and in vivo [23,24]. In relation to this, we previously reported a microarray analysis carried out on tumours which developed in BALB/c mice following subcutaneous injection of syngeneic J558 myeloma cells, which revealed that oral supplementation of OPP at 1,500 ppm gallic acid equivalent in these tumour-bearing animals caused a G1/S phase cell cycle arrest in the tumours [24].…”

Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil: Versatile Ingredients for Food Applications

“…Red PO is one of the richest sources of vitamin E (tocotrienols 70%-80% and tocopherols 20%-30%) (Mukherjee and Mitra, 2009) and carotenoids of which 80%-90% is present as α-carotene and β-carotene (Benadé, 2013). It also contains appreciable amounts of phospholipids, ubiquinones, sterols, and squalene (Choo et al, 2005) and phenolic compounds (Sambanthamurthi et al, 2011). The micronutrient in PO especially in the red PO has been found to have potent protective effects against chronic diseases, that is, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer (Che Idris et al, 2014;Benadé, 2013).…”

Oxidative Damage is not a Major Contributor to AZT-Induced Mitochondrial Mutations

“…This hypothesis is supported by our observation that addition of palm fruit juice (PFJ) to AZT-treated cultures reduced the number of drug-induced mtDNA mutations. Palm fruit juice is a water soluble by-product of oil extraction from the fruit of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) that is rich in antioxidant phenolics and other phytochemicals [15]. In particular, PFJ exhibits a high scavenging activity for hydrogen peroxide, the main reactive oxygen species produced in excess by defective mitochondria [16].…”