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Absence of genotoxic effects of crude and refined red palm oil on mouse bone marrow cells

S.V. Oliveira^I; D.M.F. Salvadori^I; A.C.C. Rios^I; M.C. Sales^I; H.T. Godoy^II; L.R. Ribeiro^I

^I Laboratório de Toxicologia e Genética Toxicológica, Escola de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Av. Adhemar de Banos 500, Ondina, 40170-110 Salvador, BA, Brasil. Send correspondence to L.R.R.
^II Laboratório de Análise do Departamento de Ciência de Alimentos, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos, UNICAMP, 13087-970 Campinas, SP, Brasil

ABSTRACT

Red Palm Oil (RPO), extracted from fruits of Elaeis guineensis, is a complex mixture consisting of over 99% glycerides and about 1% non-glyceride compounds. Its orange-red colour is due to its high content of carotenoid pigments, mainly alpha- and beta-carotene. Based on the fact that palm oil is a rich source of provitamin A, and because it is largely consumed in North and Northeastern Brazil, we evaluated possible clastogenic and cytotoxic activities of this oil on mouse bone marrow cells in vivo, as well as the alpha- and beta-carotene content. The experiments were performed using samples of refined and crude palm oil, of which two different phases, supernatant, sediment, and the mixture of both, were tested. The animals were treated by gavage, at daily doses of 4.5 g/kg, for five consecutive days, and killed 24 hours after the last treatment, for chromosome preparations. The negative control group was treated with corn oil. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and in mitotic index when the animals which received palm oil were compared with the negative control. The beta-carotene content was higher than that of alpha-carotene, and the supernatant phase was the richest source of carotenoids. These findings suggest that RPO has no genotoxic effect.

Keywords: genotoxic; crude; red palm oil; mouse bone; marrow cells.

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