Sv. Oliveira et al., ABSENCE OF GENOTOXIC EFFECTS OF CRUDE AND REFINED RED PALM OIL ON MOUSE BONE-MARROW CELLS, Brazilian journal of genetics, 17(4), 1994, pp. 409-412
Red Palm Oil (RPO), extracted from fruits of Elaeis guineensis, is a c
omplex mixture consisting of over 99% glycerides and about 1% non-glyc
eride compounds. Its orange-red colour is due to its high content of c
arotenoid pigments, mainly alpha- and beta-carotene. Based on the fact
that palm oil is a rich source of provitamin A, and because it is lar
gely 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 ex
periments 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 dos
es of 4.5 g/kg, for five consecutive days, and killed 24 hours after t
he last treatment, for chromosome preparations. The negative control g
roup 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 a
lpha-carotene, and the supernatant phase was the richest source of car
otenoids. These findings suggest that RPO has no genotoxic effect.