Fatty Acids Composition, Total Phenolics contEnt, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Algerian Ziziphus lotus L. (Desf.) Fruit Oil

Oil seeds are valuable natural sources of lipophilic compounds for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and biodiesel applications. Ziziphus lotus L. (Desf.), which is also called jujube, is a common plant in Algeria, and its fruit is well-known for its nutritional and medicinal benefits. Algerian traditional medicine uses the plant for its anti-diabetic, sedative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and hypoglycemic activities.This study was conceived to investigate the fatty acid composition, total phenolic content, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of fixed oil obtained from Algerian Z. lotus fruits. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis revealed that the major components of fatty acids were oleic (61.8%) and linoleic acid (16.2%), with a total of 78% unsaturated fatty acids. According to the Folin-Ciocalteau assay, the total phenols of the oil sample were determined at 25.08 mg GAE/100 g oil. The fixed oil showed significant antioxidant activity (IC50 values of 79.61 and 618 g mL(-1) for DPPH and reducing power assays, respectively). Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of fixed oil was determined using the disc-diffusion and microdilution assays against two Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria. The results revealed that the oil exhibited interesting antibacterial activity against Streptococcus pneumonia (IZ = 19 +/- 0.4 mm and MIC = 0.2 +/- 00 mg mL(-1)), Staphylococcus aureus (IZ = 15 +/- 0.1 mm and MIC = 0.4 +/- 00 mg mL(-1)), and Escherichia coli (IZ = 14 +/- 0.2 mm and MIC = 0.5 +/- 00 mg mL(-1)). Results suggest that Z. lotus fruit oil could be explored as a novel and potential natural antioxidant and antibacterial for use in functional foods and medicine.

Automated summary

The fixed oil extracted from Algerian Z. lotus fruits contains high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, which exhibit significant antioxidant and antibacterial activities against various bacteria.