Investigation on Alocasia fornicata (Kunth) Schott as a Novel Source of Bioactive Vegetable Oil

Background: Interest in novel sources of edible and vegetable oils have been growing due to the growing population and its accompanying energy needs. The present study investigates the physicochemical characteristics, the antioxidant property and antibacterial activity of the vegetable oil extracted from Alocasia fornicata collected from Mizoram, India. This vegetable oil could potentially serve as a highly valuable and cost-effective supplement. Method: The fixed oil was extracted by using Soxhlet extractor and it was subjected to various preliminary phytochemical and physicochemical tests including specific gravity, viscosity, iodine number, acid value, saponification number and peroxide value. The antibacterial effects were estimated against different pathogenic strains such as Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtillis and Escherichia coli following disc diffusion method. Antioxidant activity of the fixed oil was evaluated by DPPH scavenging activity and compared against a standard ascorbic acid. Results: The yield of the fixed oil was found to be 8.39%. Results from various tests showed that the fixed oil exhibit a positive test for sterols and terpenoids, and also possess certain antibacterial and antioxidant properties. The scavenging property was also increased in a dose dependent manner. The IC50 value for the DPPH scavenging activity of the oil was also found to be 174.26 μg/mL. Conclusion: Crude vegetable oil was extracted from the spadix of Alocasia fornicata and its property was reported for the first time. The oil was found to exhibit properties that are typical of vegetable oils. The oil also possesses antioxidant and antimicrobial property which indicates its applicability in food and other industries.