The effect of press temperature on the total tocopherols, sterol, fatty acid, phenolic profile, in-vitro cytotoxicity assay, and anti-inflammatory activity

This study aimed to investigate the effect of press temperature on physicochemical properties, fatty acid, sterol, phenolic composition, in-vitro cytotoxicity assay, and anti-inflammatory activity of pumpkin seed oil. For this aim, the oils obtained at 100 °C (PSO2) and 150 °C (PSO3) press temperature were compared with the cold press oil (PSO1). The application of press temperature at 150 °C caused a significant decrease in the amount of sterol, while the press application at 100 °C did not cause a significant change in the sterol composition. Total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity values, and individual phenolic content of PSO2 and PSO3 samples were significantly lower than those of PSO1. 30 mg/mL of PSO1, PSO2, and PSO3 samples exhibited a cytotoxic effect on the cells with an inhibition ratio of 75%, 48%, and 39%, respectively, indicating that press temperature reduced the cytotoxic effect of pumpkin seed oil. PSO1 showed anti-inflammatory activity ranged from 79% to 59%, while at the same concentrations PSO2 and PSO3 exhibited approximately from 58% to 49%. This study indicated that the bioactive properties of the cold press oil could be negatively affected by higher press temperature.