Bioactive compounds and nutritional significance of virgin argan oil - an edible oil with potential as a functional food

Nutrition Reviews

Volumn 70, Issue 5, 2012, Pages 266-279

  Cabrera Vique, Carmen ^a   Marfil, Rocío ^a   Giménez, Rafael ^a   Martínez Augustin, Olga ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA   (Spain)

Author keywords

Antioxidant capacity; Bioactive compounds; Functional food; Health properties; Virgin argan oil

Indexed keywords

ALMOND OIL; ARACHIS OIL; CANOLA OIL; CAROTENOID; COCONUT OIL; CORN OIL; COTTON SEED OIL; EDIBLE OIL; GRAPE SEED OIL; LINOLEIC ACID; LINSEED OIL; OLEIC ACID; OLIVE OIL; OMEGA 6 FATTY ACID; PALM KERNEL OIL; PALM OIL; PALM OLEIN OIL; RAPESEED OIL; SAFFLOWER OIL; SESAME SEED OIL; SOYBEAN OIL; SQUALENE; STEROL DERIVATIVE; SUNFLOWER OIL; TOCOPHEROL; UNCLASSIFIED DRUG; VIRGIN ARGAN OIL; XANTHOPHYLL;

ANTIINFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY; ANTINEOPLASTIC ACTIVITY; ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY; ARTICLE; CANCER PREVENTION; CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION; COMPARATIVE STUDY; DIABETES MELLITUS; DIETARY INTAKE; EXTRACTION; FUNCTIONAL FOOD; HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA; NUTRITIONAL VALUE;

ANTIOXIDANTS; FATTY ACIDS; FUNCTIONAL FOOD; HUMANS; NUTRITIONAL PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA; OXIDATION-REDUCTION; PLANT OILS; SQUALENE; STEROLS; TOCOPHEROLS;

EID: 84860325133     PISSN: 00296643     EISSN: 17534887     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2012.00478.x     Document Type: Article

References (101)

1. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Biosphere Reserve Information: 2007-10-11 2007. Available at:
2. Charrouf Z, Guillaume D. Ethnoeconomical, ethnomedical, and phytochemical study of Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels. J Ethnopharmacol. 1999;67:7-14.
3. Khallouki F, Younos C, Soulimani R, etal. Consumption of argan oil (Morocco) with its unique profile of fatty acids, tocopherols, squalene, sterols and phenolic compounds should confer valuable cancer chemopreventive effects. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2003;12:67-75.
4. Chaussod R, Adlouni A, Christon R. The argan tree and argan oil in Morocco: towards a deep change in a traditional agroforestry system. Economic and scientific challenges. Cah Etud Rech Francoph. 2005;14:351-356.
5. Cherki M, Berrougui H, Drissi A, etal. Argan oil: which benefits on cardiovascular diseases? Pharmacol Res. 2006;54:1-5.
6. Lybbert TJ, Barrett CB, Narjisse H. Market-based conservation and local benefits: the case of argan oil in Morocco. Ecol Econ. 2002;41:125-144.
7. Armenta S, Gonzalvez A, de la Guardia M. Adulteration detection of argan oil by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Food Chem. 2010;121:878-886.
8. Yaghmur A, Aserin A, Mizrahi Y, etal. Evaluation of argan oil for deep-fat frying. Lebensm Wiss Technol-Food Sci Technol. 2001;34:124-130.
9. Berrougui H, Ettaib A, Herrera Gonzalez MD, etal. Hypolipidemic and hypocholesterolemic effect of argan oil (Argania spinosa L.) in Meriones shawi rats. J Ethnopharmacol. 2003;89:15-18.
10. Bennani H, Drissi A, Giton F, etal. Antiproliferative effect of polyphenols and sterols of virgin argan oil on human prostate cancer cell lines. Cancer Detect Prev. 2007;31:64-69.
11. Cayuela JA, Rada M, Perez-Camino MD, etal. Characterization of artisanally and semiautomatically extracted argan oils from Morocco. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol. 2008;110:1159-1166.
12. Marfil R, Cabrera-Vique C, Gimenez R, etal. Metal content and physicochemical parameters used as quality criteria in virgin argan oil: influence of the extraction method. J Agric Food Chem. 2008;56:7279-7284.
13. Charrouf Z, Guillaume D. Should the amazigh diet (regular and moderate argan-oil consumption) have a beneficial impact on human health? Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010;50:473-477.
14. Norme Marocaine 08.5.090. Huiles d'Argane. Specífications. In: Ministre de l'Industrie dC, de l'Energie et des Mines. Rabat, ed, 2003.
15. Moukal A. L'arganier, Argania spinosa L. skeels usage thérapeutique, cosmetike et alimentary [in French]. Phytothérapie. 2009;5:135-141.
16. El Babili F, Bouajila J, Fouraste I, etal. Chemical study, antimalarial and antioxidant activities, and cytotoxicity to human breast cancer cells (MCF7) of Argania spinosa. Phytomedicine. 2010;17:157-160.
17. Drissi A, Girona J, Cherki M, etal. Evidence of hypolipemiant and antioxidant properties of argan oil derived from the argan tree (Argania spinosa). Clin Nutr. 2004;23:1159-1166.
18. Derouiche A, Cherki M, Drissi A, etal. Nutritional intervention study with argan oil in man: effects on lipids and apolipoproteins. Ann Nutr Metab. 2005;49:196-201.
19. Berrougui H, Cloutier M, Isabelle M, etal. Phenolic-extract from argan oil (Argania spinosa L.) inhibits human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation and enhances cholesterol efflux from human THP-1 macrophages. Atherosclerosis. 2006;184:389-396.
20. Matthaus B, Guillaume D, Gharby S, etal. Effect of processing on the quality of edible argan oil. Food Chem. 2010;120:426-432.
21. Delgado-Andrade C, Rufian-Henares JA, Morales FJ. Assessing the antioxidant activity of melanoidins from coffee brews by different antioxidant methods. J Agric Food Chem. 2005;53:7832-7836.
22. Morales FJ, Jimenez-Perez S. Free radical scavenging capacity of Maillard reaction products as related to colour and fluorescence. Food Chem. 2001;72:119-125.
23. Rahmani M. The chemical composition of "virgin" argan oil. Cah Etud Rech Francoph. 2005;14:461-465.
24. Hilali M, Charrouf Z, Soulhi Ael A, etal. Influence of origin and extraction method on argan oil physico-chemical characteristics and composition. J Agric Food Chem. 2005;53:2081-2087.
25. Marfil R, Cabrera C, Gimenez R, etal. Importancia nutricional, económica y natural del aceite de argán (Argania spinosa). Madrid: Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios 2009.
26. López MC, López H. Grasas y Aceites. In: Ruiz-López MD, Gil A, eds. Tratado de Nutrición, Vol. 2. Madrid: Acción Médica; 2005:361-394.
27. Tuberoso CIG, Kowalczyk A, Sarritzu E, etal. Determination of antioxidant compounds and antioxidant activity in commercial oilseeds for food use. Food Chem. 2007;103:1494-1501.
28. Monfalouti HE, Guillaume D, Denhez C, etal. Therapeutic potential of argan oil: a review. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2011;62:1669-1675.
29. Cherki M, Derouiche A, Drissi A, etal. Consumption of argan oil may have an antiatherogenic effect by improving paraoxonase activities and antioxidant status: intervention study in healthy men. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2005;15:352-360.
30. Teres S, Barcelo-Coblijn G, Benet M, etal. Oleic acid content is responsible for the reduction in blood pressure induced by olive oil. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105:13811-13816.
31. Zarrouk M, Zarrouk W, Baccouri B, etal. Oil fatty acid composition of eighteen Mediterranean olive varieties cultivated under the arid conditions of Boughrara (southern Tunisia). Grasas y Aceites. 2009;60:498-506.
32. Soel SM, Choi OS, Bang MH, etal. Influence of conjugated linoleic acid isomers on the metastasis of colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. J Nutr Biochem. 2007;18:650-657.
33. Valavanidis A, Nisiotou C, Papageorgiou Y, etal. Comparison of the radical scavenging potential of polar and lipidic fractions of olive oil and other vegetable oils under normal conditions and after thermal treatment. J Agric Food Chem. 2004;52:2358-2365.
34. Charrouf Z, Guillaume D. Phenols and polyphenols from Argania spinosa. Am J Food Tech. 2007;2:679-683.
35. Marfil R, Gimenez R, Martinez O, etal. Determination of polyphenols, tocopherols, and antioxidant capacity in virgin argan oil (Argania spinosa). Eur J Lipid Sci Technol. 2011;113:886-893.
36. Pellegrini N, Serafini M, Colombi B, etal. Total antioxidant capacity of plant foods, beverages and oils consumed in Italy assessed by three different in vitro assays. J Nutr. 2003;133:2812-2719.
37. Sanchez CS, Gonzalez AMT, Garcia-Parrilla MC, etal. Different radical scavenging tests in virgin olive oil and their relation to the total phenol content. Anal Chim Acta. 2007;593:103-107.
38. Service de Normalisation Industrielle Marocaine. Huiles d'Argane. Specífications. In: Norme Marocaine 08.5.090 Rabat, Morocco: Ministre de l'Industrie, de l'Energie et des Mines; 2002.
39. Hove EL, Harris PL. Note on the linoleic acid-tocopherol relationship in fats and oils. J Am Oil Chem Soc. 1951;28:405-405.
40. Kamal-Eldin A, Andersson R. A multivariate study of the correlation between tocopherol content and fatty acid composition in vegetable oils. J Am Oil Chem Soc. 1997;74:375-380.
41. Espin JC, Soler-Rivas C, Wichers HJ. Characterization of the total free radical scavenger capacity of vegetable oils and oil fractions using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical. J Agric Food Chem. 2000;48:648-656.
42. Devaraj S, Jialal I. Failure of vitamin E in clinical trials: is gamma-tocopherol the answer? Nutr Rev. 2005;63:290-293.
43. Wright ME, Weinstein SJ, Lawson KA, etal. Supplemental and dietary vitamin E intakes and risk of prostate cancer in a large prospective study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007;16:1128-1135.
44. Yang CS, Ju J, Picinich SC, etal. Cancer-preventive activities of tocopherols and tocotrienols. Carcinogenesis. 2010;31:533-542.
45. Reiter E, Jiang Q, Christen S. Anti-inflammatory properties of alpha- and gamma-tocopherol. Mol Aspects Med. 2007;28:668-691.
46. Friedrich MJ. To "E" or not to "E, " vitamin E's role in health and disease is the question. JAMA. 2004;292:671-673.
47. Devaraj S, Leonard S, Traber MG, etal. Gamma-tocopherol supplementation alone and in combination with alpha-tocopherol alters biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in subjects with metabolic syndrome. Free Radic Biol Med. 2008;44:1203-1208.
48. Nota G, Naviglio D, Romano R, etal. Determination of the wax ester content in olive oils. Improvement in the method proposed by EEC regulation 183/93. J Agric Food Chem. 1999;47:202-205.
49. Garcia JM, Gutierrez F, Castellano JM, etal. Influence of storage temperature on fruit ripening and olive oil quality. J Agric Food Chem. 1996;44:264-267.
50. Newmark HL. Squalene, olive oil, and cancer risk: a review and hypothesis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1997;6:1101-1103.
51. Kamimura H, Koga N, Oguri K, etal. Enhanced elimination of theophylline, phenobarbital and strychnine from the bodies of rats and mice by squalane treatment. J Pharmacobiodyn. 1992;15:215-221.
52. Gupta AK, Savopoulos CG, Ahuja J, etal. Role of phytosterols in lipid-lowering: current perspectives. QJM. 2011;104:301-308.
53. Moghadasian MH. Pharmacological properties of plant sterols in vivo and in vitro observations. Life Sci. 2000;67:605-615.
54. Woyengo TA, Ramprasath VR, Jones PJ. Anticancer effects of phytosterols. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009;63:813-820.
55. Min DB, Choe E. Mechanisms and factors for edible oil oxidation. Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safety. 2006;5:169-186.
56. Martinpolvillo M, Albi T, Guinda A. Determination of trace-elements in edible vegetable-oils by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. J Am Oil Chem Soc. 1994;71:347-353.
57. Karadjova I, Zachariadis G, Boskou G, etal. Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric determination of aluminium, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel and lead in olive oil. J Anal At Spectrom. 1998;13:201-204.
58. Romano R, Riccio F, Borriello I, etal. Catalytic effect of Cu (II) and Fe (III) on kinetic oxidation of fatty substances: the soybean oil case. Riv Ital Delle Sost Grass. 2007;84:25-32.
59. Roca A, Cabrera C, Lorenzo ML, etal. Levels of calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, selenium and chromium in olive oils produced in Andalusia. Grasas y Aceites. 2000;51:393-399.
60. Szydlowska-Czerniak A, Karlovits G, Dianoczki C, etal. Comparison of two analytical methods for assessing antioxidant capacity of rapeseed and olive oils. J Am Oil Chem Soc. 2008;85:141-149.
61. Bensouda Y, inventor; Bensouda Y, assignee. Formulation of argan oil-based lipid emulsion for parenteral nutrition. French patent WO 2008002116 (A1). January 3, 2008.
62. Ertus P, Leveugle C, inventors; Ertus P, assignee. Integration of the argan oil in food preparations, which is useful, e.g. as seasoning on green salads or compounds and to reduce cholesterol level, comprises adding argan oil extracted from kernels of the argan tree, to the food. French patent 2926441 (A1). July 24, 2009.
63. Moreno-Torres Herrera R, Alcala Torres J, Perez Moreno A, Perez Roca C, Romero de Soto D, inventors;Olifarma, S.L., assignee. Olive-oil-based functional oils. ES and US patent WO/2010/149815. December 29, 2010.
64. Astier C, Benchad Yel A, Moneret-Vautrin DA, etal. Anaphylaxis to argan oil. Allergy. 2010;65:662-663.
65. Singh U, Devaraj S, Jialal I. Vitamin E, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Annu Rev Nutr. 2005;25:151-174.
66. Berrada Y, Settaf A, Baddouri K, etal. Experimental assessment of antihypertensive and hypolipidemic effects of oil of argan, Argania sideroxylon [in French]. Therapie. 2000;55:375-378.
67. Berrougui H, Alvarez de Sotomayor M, Perez-Guerrero C, etal. Argan (Argania spinosa) oil lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Br J Nutr. 2004;92:921-929.
68. Bnouham M, Bellahcen S, Benalla W, etal. Antidiabetic activity assessment of Argania spinosa oil. J Complement Integr Med. 2008;5:1-12.
69. Bellahcen S, Mekhfi H, Ziyyat A, etal. Prevention of chemically induced diabetes mellitus in experimental animals by virgin argan oil. Phytother Res. 2012;26:180-185.
70. Azar M, Basu A, Jenkins AJ, etal. Serum carotenoids and fat-soluble vitamins in women with type 1 diabetes and preeclampsia: a longitudinal study. Diabetes Care. 2011;34:1258-1264.
71. Gupta S, Sharma TK, Kaushik GG, etal. Vitamin E supplementation may ameliorate oxidative stress in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients. Clin Lab. 2011;57:379-386.
72. Gray B, Swick J, Ronnenberg AG. Vitamin E and adiponectin: proposed mechanism for vitamin E-induced improvement in insulin sensitivity. Nutr Rev. 2011;69:155-161.
73. Salonen JT, Nyyssonen K, Tuomainen TP, etal. Increased risk of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus at low plasma vitamin E concentrations: a four year follow up study in men. BMJ. 1995;311:1124-1127.
74. Ohnishi M, Matuo T, Tsuno T, etal. Antioxidant activity and hypoglycemic effect of ferulic acid in STZ-induced diabetic mice and KK-Ay mice. Biofactors. 2004;21:315-319.
75. Benzaria A, Meskini N, Dubois M, etal. Effect of dietary argan oil on fatty acid composition, proliferation, and phospholipase D activity of rat thymocytes. Nutrition. 2006;22:628-637.
76. Drissi A, Bennani H, Giton F, etal. Tocopherols and saponins derived from Argania spinosa exert an antiproliferative effect on human prostate cancer. Cancer Invest. 2006;24:588-592.
77. Samane S, Noel J, Charrouf Z, etal. Insulin-sensitizing and anti-proliferative effects of Argania spinosa seed extracts. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2006;3:317-327.
78. Ollivier D, Artaud J, Pinatel C, etal. Triacylglycerol and fatty acid compositions of French virgin olive oils. Characterization by chemometrics. J Agric Food Chem. 2003;51:5723-5731.
79. Filip S, Hribar J, Vidrih R. Influence of natural antioxidants on the formation of trans-fatty-acid isomers during heat treatment of sunflower oil. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol. 2011;113:224-230.
80. Ayorinde FO, Garvin K, Saeed K. Determination of the fatty acid composition of saponified vegetable oils using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2000;14:608-615.
81. Araujo P, Zeng Y, Du ZY, etal. Discrimination of n-3 rich oils by gas chromatography. Lipids. 2010;45:1147-1158.
82. Maguire LS, O'Sullivan SM, Galvin K, etal. Fatty acid profile, tocopherol, squalene and phytosterol content of walnuts, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts and the macadamia nut. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2004;55:171-178.
83. Ozcan MM, Unver A, Erkan E, etal. Characteristics of some almond kernel and oils. Scientia Horticulturae (Amsterdam). 2011;127:330-333.
84. Pasias SA, Barakos NK, Papayannakos NG. Catalytic effect of free fatty acids on cotton seed oil thermal transesterification. Ind Eng Chem Res. 2009;48:4266-4273.
85. Lukonge E, Labuschagne MT, Hugo A. The evaluation of oil and fatty acid composition in seed of cotton accessions from various countries. J Sci Food Agric. 2007;87:340-347.
86. Moser BR. Influence of extended storage on fuel properties of methyl esters prepared from canola, palm, soybean and sunflower oils. Renew Energ. 2011;36:1221-1226.
87. Sundaram J, Kandala CV, Holser RA, etal. Determination of in-shell peanut oil and fatty acid composition using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy. J Am Oil Chem Soc. 2010;87:1103-1114.
88. Karoui IJ, Wannes WA, Marzouk B. Refined corn oil aromatization by Citrus aurantium peel essential oil. Ind Crop Prod. 2010;32:202-207.
89. Rubio M, Alvarez-Orti M, Alvarruiz A, etal. Characterization of oil obtained from grape seeds collected during berry development. J Agric Food Chem. 2009;57:2812-2815.
90. Azeez MA, Morakinyo JA. Genetic diversity of fatty acids in sesame and its relatives in Nigeria. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol. 2011;113:238-244.
91. Siang GH, Makahleh A, Saad B, etal. Hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-flame ionization detection for the profiling of fatty acids in vegetable oils. J Chromatogr A. 2010;1217:8073-8078.
92. Man YBC, Rohman A. Palm oil analysis in adulterated sesame oil using chromatography and FTIR spectroscopy. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol. 2011;113:522-527.
93. Enríquez-Fernández BE, Álvarez de la Cadena y Yañez L, Sosa-Morales ME. Comparison of the stability of palm olein and a palm olein/canola oil blend during deep-fat frying of chicken nuggets and French fries. Int J Food Sci Technol. 2011;46:1231-1237.
94. Bhatnagar AS, Kumar PKP, Hemavathy J, etal. Fatty acid composition, oxidative stability, and radical scavenging activity of vegetable oil blends with coconut oil. J Am Oil Chem Soc. 2009;86:991-999.
95. Gliszcynska-Swiglo A, Sirkoska E, Kamelinskii I, etal. Tocopherol content in edible plant oils. Pol J Food Nutr Sci. 2007;57:157-161.
96. Codex Alimentarius (FAO/WHO). Codex Standard for named vegetable oils. 2003. CODEX STAN 210 1999. (revision and amendments: 2003).
97. Li SCX, Cherian G, Ahn DU, etal. Storage, heating, and tocopherols affect cholesterol oxide formation in food oils. J Agric Food Chem. 1996;44:3830-3834.
98. Seker M, Gul MK, Ipek M, etal. Screening and comparing tocopherols in the rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) and olive (Olea europaea L.) varieties using high-performance liquid chromatography. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2008;59:483-490.
99. Gorinstein S, Martin-Belloso O, Katrich E, etal. Comparison of the contents of the main biochemical compounds and the antioxidant activity of some Spanish olive oils as determined by four different radical scavenging tests. J Nutr Biochem. 2003;14:154-159.
100. Sanchez CS, Gonzalez AMT, Garcia-Parrilla MC, etal. Different radical scavenging tests in virgin olive oil and their relation to the total phenol content. Anal Chim Acta. 2007;593:103-107.
101. Gomez-Alonso S, Fregapane G, Salvador MD, etal. Changes in phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of virgin olive oil during frying. J Agric Food Chem. 2003;51:667-672.