Characterization of Egyptian Moringa peregrine seed oil and its bioactivities

The seed oil of Egyptian Moringa peregrina (Forssk) was extracted with a mixture of dichloromethane/methanol (1:1, v/v). The oil was examined with respect to physicochemical properties, unsaponifiable (UnSap) and fatty acids profiles, tochopherols and phenolic contents, anticancer and antioxidant activities. Moringa oil (MO) showed a better overall quality, its acid, peroxide, iodine, saponification values were 0.02 mg KOH/g oil, 0.01 meq O2/kg oil, 67 I2 g/100 g oil and 177 mg KOH/g. The Un-Sap of MO was found to contain high amounts of hydrocarbon fraction C12 to C32 and phytoesterol fractions were found rich in campesteol, clerosterol and  sitosterol compounds. The major fatty acids were identified as oleic (C18:1 9, 65.36%) and linoleic (C18:3 6, 15.32%). Tocopherols and phenolic in oil accounted for 20.35 and 48.31 mg/100 g. The Moringa oil showed high growth inhibition against three human cancer cell lines, breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), and colon carcinoma (HCT-116), with IC50 values of 2.92, 9.40 and 9.48 µg/ml, respectively. The MO showed remarkable antioxidant activity, compared with that of commonly used antioxidants (-tocopherol, BHT and BHA) as determined by five antioxidant assays (includes, free radical scavenging of DPPH, ABTS, . OH, anion-scavenging capability and reducing power. These results strongly suggested its potential use MO as non-conventional seed crop for high quality oil and as candidate in the area of natural anticancer and antioxidant compounds.