A study of effective parameters on the activity antioxidant of oil extraction from date pit

This research investigates the effects of date-pit oil extraction conditions on the antioxidant activity of the extracted oil. The oil was extracted by maceration method using petroleum ether. The date seed powder was first sieved into three fractions with the average diameters of 497.50, 892.50, 1705 μm. The oil of each fraction was extracted under certain conditions of solvent/powder ratio, temperature and agitation time. The antioxidant activity of the extracted oil was determined based on the IC50 through DPPH test. The effect of each condition in each time was assessed on the oil antioxidant activity. The highest antioxidant activity was obtained for both particles with mean diameter of 497.50 and 1705 μm depending on the applied conditions (solvent volume, temperature and the agitation time). The statistical analysis of the results using the step-by-step regression indicated the particle size and temperature are the most important factors as 86% of the antioxidant activity relates to these two parameters. In addition, the interaction effect of all parameters except temperature and agitation time was significant at the 99% level.