Extraction of poppy seed (Papaver somniferum L.) oil and its antioxidant activity by DPPH Assay

The huge mainstream of plants, especially agricultural raw materials possesses extractable oils that may have some commercial value. Poppy seeds have high nutritional value and are used as a source of food and cooking oil. Its oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. It is well known that polyunsaturated fatty acids not only provide basic nutrients for the body, but their absorption into the body are very important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and many inflammatory diseases. In this study, poppy seed oil was extracted with a yield of 32.50 ± 1.80% and free radical scavenging activity was evaluated by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Antioxidant activity was found to be in the range of 22.28±1.40-58.32±3.40% at concentrations of 20-100 µl. It was concluded in this study that poppy seeds were found as an effective source of natural antioxidants and can be used to substitute synthetic antioxidants