Composition, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Hexanic Extract from Prunus armeniaca L. Kernel from North-West Iran.

Chemical characteristics, fatty acid composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities ofPrunus armeniaca kernel oil were evaluated in this study. The hexane extracts of kernel of P.armeniaca, which were collected from northwestern Iran, were obtained by Soxhlet apparatus.The fatty acids were derived to methyl esters and determined by gas chromatography/flameionization detector (GC/FID) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems.The oil from kernel extract contained ω-6 (51.6%). The other main components were hexadecanoicacid (palmitic acid) (23.0%), octadecanoic acid (stearic acid) (10.6%) and 9-hexadecenoicacid (2.7%). Hexane extract of kernels from P. armeniaca detected as an important source of ω-6compound. The antioxidant activity of the extract was evaluated by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) method. The results indicate that hexane extract from P. armeniaca kernelspossess considerable antioxidant activity. The IC50 values in the DPPH assay was 165μg/mL. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was determined against some Gram-positive andGram-negative bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, S.epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae), as well asthree fungi (Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger). The bioassayshowed that the oil exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity. This study reveals that the hexanicextract from kernel of this fruit is attractive sources of ω-6.