Physiochemical properties and antioxidant potential of Persea Americana seed oil

Oil extracted from Persea Americana seed was assayed for its physiochemical properties and antioxidant potential using various standard methods. The oil content of the seed was found to be < 10%. Brownish-red color oil was liquid at room temperature, with specific gravity of 0.91±0.02 g/mL. Other physiochemical parameters determined were; acid value (4.51±0.08 mgKOH/g), %FFA (2.26±0.08), peroxide value (2.40±0.57 mgO2/Kg), ester value (31.26±0.03 mgKOH/g), saponification value (35.76±0.07 mgKOH/g) and iodine value (23.5±0.07). The results of the antioxidant activities of the seed oil showed that the flavonoid content (80.00±1.41 mgQE/g) was ~10 folds higher than the phenolic content (8.27±0.06 mgGAE/g). The DPPH radical scavenging value was found to be 51.54±0.25% with an IC50 value of 4.68±0.02 mg/mL and reducing power with an average absorbance of 0.85±0.01 and an IC50 value of 0.001±0.02 mg/mL. Gallic acid showed better antioxidant activities than the oil studied. The results obtained in this study showed that Persea Americana seed oil has nutritional, industrial as well as medicinal potentials.