ABSENCE OF GENOTOXIC EFFECTS OF CRUDE AND REFINED RED PALM OIL ON MOUSE BONE-MARROW CELLS

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.