Chemical composition and antioxidant activities of ansu apricot oil growing wild in north Xinjiang, China

Abstract

Ansu apricots growing wild in north Xinjiang are recognised as being one of the major wild-plant resources in China. In order to improve the level of comprehensive utilisation and the number of cultivated apricot varieties, the chemical composition of ansu apricot oil was analysed by capillary GC-MS and elucidated based on the standard mass spectral data; the antioxidant activities were also evaluated. Seven components of ansu apricots oil were identified, and the total unsaturated fatty acid (FA) (TUFA) and total essential FA (TEFA) contents of the ansu apricot oil were found to be 90.35 g/100 g and 48.93 g/100 g, respectively. The scavenging capacity of the ansu apricots oil in the superoxide anion radical system and the hydroxyl radical system performed better than in the DPPH radical system. The IC50 values of the ansu apricot oil for the superoxide anion radical system and the hydroxyl radical system were 0.15 mg mL−1 and 0.30 mg mL−1, respectively: stronger than that of the control (ascorbic acid). In the DPPH system, the IC50 value of the ansu apricot oil was 0.50 mg mL−1, and the IC50 value of ascorbic acid was 0.30 mg mL−1, but within the selected dosage, the highest scavenging capacity of ansu apricot oil was higher than the control. The results obtained in this study clearly suggest that ansu apricot oil is a natural source of antioxidants and could serve as a functional food ingredient with potential application in food products and thus provide related health benefits.