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Seabuckthorn (SBT) seed oil is a rich source of unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, carotenoids and flavonoids, which are known to have significant anti-atherogenic and cardioprotective activity. The anti-atherogenic activity of [...]

Terminalia bellerica has been used as a traditional medicine in a variety of ailments including anaemia, asthma, cancer, inflammation, rheumatism and hypertension. In this study, the free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities of methanol extract (ME) and its different solvent fractions (namely hexane (HE), ethyl acetate (EA), butanol (BL) and water (WA)) of the T. bellerica fruit pericarp were evaluated and compared with standard antioxidant compounds like gallic acid (GA), catechin and ascorbic acid. Among the different fractions tested, the EA fraction exhibited higher antioxidant and radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), superoxide and hydroxyl radicals than the other fractions, which may be attributed to its higher phenolic and flavonoid content, since a linear relation was observed between the phenolic content and the antioxidant parameters. The HPTLC analysis of the EA fraction revealed that it mainly contains GA and ferulic acid (FA) as major phenolics, and the higher antioxidant activities of EA fraction may be due to the presence of these compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice Bran Oil contains a variety of Unsaponifiable Constituents (USC) that are presumed to contribute to the high value of Unsaponifable Matter (USM). The objectives of the present study were to identify and quantify the constituents in USM. The changes that the unsaponifiables undergo during saponification were also quantitatively investigated. While analyzing the percentage of all constituents, the percentage of sterol get increased from 22.46 to 23.77 in USM of crude rice bran oil (CRBO) and 33.42 to 36.79 in USM of refined rice bran oil (RRBO). Oryzanol that comprised 34% of the unsaponifiable in the crude oil by direct estimation was almost eliminated in USM and same in refined oil. The results also revealed the presence of four additional classes of compounds that were quantified in USM (policosanol, fatty aldehydes, triterpene alcohols and potassium salt of oryzanols). Among the four classes of compounds, policosanol contributed high percentage in USM, (43.39% in CRBO and 28.46% in RRBO). Fatty aldehydes, triterpene alcohols and potassium salt of oryzanols together contributed 27.68% and 25.13% of USM from CRBO and RRBO respectively. The HPTLC method employed here thus, accounted for 96.75% by wt of the USM of CRBO and 92.00% by wt of the USM of RRBO.