Pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita moschata - Jacarezinho cultivar): characterization of the oil extracted by solvent and supercritical fluid and study of anti-parasitary activity / Sementes de abóbora (Cucurbita moschata - cultivar Jacarezinho): caracterização do óleo extraído por solvente e fluido supercrítico e estudo da atividade antiparasitária

Abstract

The presence of many biologically active components makes pumpkins extremely attractive to the phytochemical manufacturing industry. Studies have demonstrated that the oil extracted from the seeds has different biological activities. This study aimed to determine the fatty acid composition and total tocopherol content of the pumpkin seed oil (Cucurbita moschata – Jacarezinho cultivar) extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO₂) and hexane/isopropanol. The fatty acids composition and content of total tocopherols were determined by GC, GC/FID, HPLC, respectively. We also evaluated in vitro schistosomicidal activities of the crude oil, which have been described with anti-parasitic activities. Sc-CO₂ extracted pumpkin seed oil, with a maximum yield of 24.3 ± 0.4%, much higher than hexane/isopropanol extraction (8.3 ± 2.7%). Was not observe differences between the non-polar compounds present in the oil extracted by both methods. In the seed oil, unsaturated acids are dominant (oleic and linoleic). The results indicate that the oil has an excellent quality, with high contents of unsaturated fatty acids (73% of total fatty acids) and total tocopherols (14 mg100g^-1 of oil). Although popularly reported as anti-parasitic activities caused no mortality, tegumental alterations or significant decrease in motor activity in all adult parasites. Sc-CO₂ was able to extract pumpkin seed oil with a much higher yield than extraction with hexane/isopropanol and no differences were observe between the non-polar compounds present in the oil extracted by both methods. The oil is popularly used as an antiparasitic agent but in this study did not show antiparasitary actividies.