Abstract
Context: Virgin coconut oil (VCO) has been reported to possess antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-stress properties.Objective: Capitalizing on these therapeutic effects, this study investigated for the first time the potential of VCO on memory improvement in vivo.Materials and methods: Thirty male Wistar rats (7–8 weeks old) were randomly assigned to five groups (n = six per group). Treatment groups were administered with 1, 5 and 10 g/kg VCO for 31 days by oral gavages. The cognitive function of treated-rats were assessed using the Morris Water Maze Test. Brains were removed, homogenized and subjected to biochemical analyses of acetylcholine (ACh) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), antioxidants [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GRx)], lipid peroxidase [malondialdehyde (MDA)] as well as nitric oxide (NO). α-Tocopherol (αT; 150 mg/kg) was also included for comparison purposes.Results: VCO-fed Wistar rats exhibited significant (p < 0.05) improvement of cognitive functions [reduced escape latency (≥ 1.8 s), reduced escape distance (≥ 0.3 m) and increased total time spent on platform (≥ 1 s)]. The findings were accompanied by elevation of ACh (15%), SOD (8%), CAT (≥ 54%), GSH (≥ 20%) and GPx (≥ 12%) and reduction of AChE (≥17%), MDA (> 33%) and NO (≥ 34%). Overall, memory improvement by VCO was comparable to αT.Discussion and conclusion: VCO has the potential to be used as a memory enhancer, the effect of which was mediated, at least in part, through enhanced cholinergic activity, increased antioxidants level and reduced oxidative stress.
Highlights
Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is increasingly known for its usefulness as functional food oil
Cognitive functions of VCO-treated rats were examined in terms of their escape latency, escape distance and time spent in platform quadrant (Figure 2(A–C))
The attenuation of escape latency and escape distance observed among the VCO-treated rodents was comparable to that of aT at day 3 (1.2 s and 0.3 m, respectively)
Summary
Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is increasingly known for its usefulness as functional food oil. This is evident by the increased availability of VCO in the South East Asian countries (Marina et al 2009b). VCO is predominantly made up of triglycerides (i.e., short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids). 60% of the medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) in the VCO are almost similar to those in mother’s milk, an ideal natural food formula that protects infants from infections and other illnesses (Isaacs & Thormar 1990). In particular, is an MCT that encompasses the majority of VCO nutritional content (Bawalan & Chapman 2006). Polyphenols are known for their neuroprotective actions, especially in preventing the neurotoxic effects of b-amyloid (Menard et al 2013)
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