Please cite this article in press as: Yazan, L.S., et al., Effect of kenaf seed oil from different ways of extraction towards ovarian cancer cells. Food Bioprod Process (2010), doi:10.1016/j.fbp.2010.10.007 ARTICLE IN PRESS FBP-204; No. of Pages 5 food and bioproducts processing xxx (2010) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food and Bioproducts Processing journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fbp Effect of kenaf seed oil from different ways of extraction towards ovarian cancer cells Latifah Saiful Yazan a,b,∗ , Jhi Biau Foo a , Siti Aisyah Abd Ghafar a , Kim Wei Chan a , Paridah Md Tahir c , Maznah Ismail a a Laboratory of Molecular Biomedicine, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia b Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia c Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia abstract Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) from the family of Malvaceae is a valuable fibre plant native to India and Africa. Kenaf is composed of various active components including tannins, saponins, polyphenolics, alkaloids, essential oils and steroids. It has been used to treat bruises, bilious conditions, fever and puerperium. Nevertheless, the anti-cancer properties of kenaf seed oil have not yet been investigated. In this study, kenaf seed oils obtained by Sonication, Soxhlet and supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SFE) with 9 different combinations of pressure (bars) and temperature ( ◦ C) (200/40, 200/60, 200/80, 400/40, 400/60, 400/80, 600/40, 600/60 and 600/80) were investigated for the cytotoxicities. All the oils were cytotoxic towards ovarian cancer (CaOV3) and colon cancer (HT29) cell lines in a dose dependent manner as detected by using the MTT assay and trypan blue dye exclusion method. Oil from Sonication was the most cytotoxic towards CaOV3 cell line. Treated cells exhibited characteristics of apoptosis such as chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation. In conclusion, kenaf seed oils from the three extractions were cytotoxic towards CaOV3 cell line in a dose-dependent manner possibly via the induction of apoptosis. In considering the safety of the product, SFE technology is a better alternative extraction method that is suitable in kenaf seed oil extraction. © 2010 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction; Kenaf (H. cannabinus) seed oil; Cytotoxicity; Apoptosis 1. Introduction Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) from the family of Malvaceae is a valuable fibre plant native to India and Africa (Mohamed et al., 1995). It is now being planted as a potential one to replace tobacco. Kenaf is one of the allied fibres of jute and shows similar characteristics. The plant is composed of various active components including tannins, saponins, polyphenolics, alka- loids, essential oils and steroids, and has long been prescribed in traditional folk medicine in Africa and India (Agbor et al., 2005; Kobaisy et al., 2001). Kenaf seeds yield vegetable oil that is edible for human consumption (Nyam et al., 2009; Mohamed et al., 1995). The oil contains alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the essential omega- ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Tel.: +60 3 89472308. E-mail address: latifah@medic.upm.edu.my (L.S. Yazan). Received 3 March 2009; Received in revised form 29 September 2010; Accepted 29 October 2010 3 fatty acid that is metabolized to eicosapentaenoic acid, a precursor of eicosanoids with anti-inflammatory and anti- thrombotic activity (Ruiz et al., 2002) and also known as chemopreventive agent (Williams et al., 2007). Additionally, kenaf seed oil contains phytosterol which possesses anti- cancer, anti-oxidant and lipid lowering cholesterol properties (Kritchevsky and Chen, 2005; Berger et al., 2004; Choi et al., 2003). Kenaf seed oil can be extracted out conventionally by using the organic solvents such as n-hexane or petroleum ether. Nevertheless, the oil is always doubted for the safety of consumption due to the residue of the solvents. Hence, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SFE) is considered a better way to obtain the oil (Wang and Weller, 2006). To date, 0960-3085/$ – see front matter © 2010 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fbp.2010.10.007