Buriti (Mauritia Flexuosa L.) pulp oil as an immunomodulator against enteropathogenic Escherichia coli

Abstract

Bioactive compounds present in fruit oils have an antioxidant activity, which may be related to an immunomodulatory effect, which in turn can result in a microbicidal activity. Hence, the main aim of the current study is to evaluate the immunomodulatory effect of buriti oil (Mauritia Flexuosa L.) against enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC). Therefore, buriti pulp oil was extracted and characterized for saponification, peroxide and acidity index, total carotenoid content, fatty acid profile, hydrophilic and lipophilic fraction antioxidant capacity, cell viability, and phagocytosis of EPEC by mononuclear (MN) cells. The heat extraction process did not cause hydrolytic rancidity and oxidative rancidity in the oil, and the result is an acid value of 17.44 mg KOH/g of oil and a low peroxide value (0.062 meq peroxide/1000 g of oil). However, the saponification index was elevated (239.79 mg KOH/g of oil) due to the presence of low molecular weight fatty acid. As concerns the profile of the fatty acid, the oil is composed mainly of oleic acid (72.23 %) and palmitic acid (22.18 %). In addition, buriti oil presented a high content of carotenoids (760.5 ± 46.4 μg of β-carotene/g of oil), related to its antioxidant capacity. Moreover, buriti oil did not show toxicity to human blood MN phagocytes and increased the rate of cellular phagocytosis in EPEC and its microbicide index (69.3 ± 6.6 %), when compared with the negative control group. (48.1 ± 5.4 %).