Potential oil resources from underutilized seeds of Sterculia foetida, L. - Quality assessment and chemical profiling with other edible vegetable oils based on fatty acid composition, oxidative stability, antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity

Vegetable oils are integral part in production of manufactured food both in domestic and industrial scale. Vegetable oil market is increasing upward with a CAGR of 3.25% during the forecast period (2019–2024) all around the world. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternative sources of vegetable oil to fulfil the scarcity in the market. Seeds of Sterculia foetida, L. yielded considerable amount of oil (58.7 g/100g) as compared to other vegetable oils (such as sunflower, ground nut, mustard, soybean). Fatty acids composition of all the five tested oils showed that total fatty acid as well as unsaturated fatty acid percentage is higher in Sterculia seed oil. Proximate and mineral composition analysis suggested that Sterculia oil is a good source of protein, lipids, macro and micronutrients. Lowest TOTOX value (2.67) and higher iodine value (132–144) indicated its higher oxidative stability and presence of greater number of unsaturated bands in the fatty acid moieties which is also beneficial for human health. Sterculia oil exhibited lower IC50 values in DPPH (825.73 μg/ml), and NO (111.98 μg/ml) radical scavenging assays. In case of ABTS radical scavenging activity, no significant differences were observed in groundnut, mustard, sterculia and soybean except sunflower. Sterculia oil did not exhibit any cytotoxic effect on both normal and cancerous cell lines even at concentrations of 40 μg/ml as evident from MTT assay. Thus, seed oil of Sterculia foetida may be a cost-effective and viable source of safe nutritious edible oils to combat the present market demand.