Unsaponifiable Compounds and Phenols Content, Antioxidant and Antitrypsin Activities of Prunus persica Kernel Oil

Although peach kernels are rich in oil, there is a lack of information about its chemical and biological properties. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the lipid profile, antioxidant capacity, and trypsin inhibitory propriety of peach oil extracted from two varieties (sweet cap and O’Henry) cultivated in Tunisia. The investigated peach kernel oil contains significant amount of unsaponifiable (2.1±0.5-2.8±0.2% of oil) and phenolic compounds (45.8±0.92-74.6±1.3 mg GAE/g of oil). Its n-alkane profile was characterized by the predominance of tetracosane n-C24 (47.24%) followed by tricosane n-C23 (34.43%). An important total tocopherol content (1192.83±3.1 mg/kg oil) has been found in sweet cap cultivar. Although rich in polyphenols and tocopherols, the tested oil did not display an inhibitory effect on trypsin. However, all peach oil samples showed effective antioxidant capacity and the highest values (86.34±1.3% and 603.50±2.6 μmol TE/g oil for DPPH test and ORAC assay, respectively) were observed for sweet cap oil. Peach oil has an excellent potential for application in the food and pharmaceutical industries as source of naturally-occurring bioactive substances.

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