Extraction, compositional analysis, in vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) seed oil.

Dandelion is a well-known wild vegetable and traditional medicine herb widely distributed in nature. Extraction, compositional analysis, in vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of dandelion seed oil (DSO) from dandelion seeds (DS) was investigated in this paper. The extraction rate of DSO was 13.46 % using petroleum ether reflux method. 66 compounds and their relative contents were identified by GC-MS. DSO mainly contains olefins, alkanes, alcohols, ketones and other substances, among which (-)-limonene is the most. When the concentration of DSO was 0.24 mg/mL, the WA (reducing power) value was 1.442. DSO also showed exhibited moderate antioxidant activity in the ABTS assay (IC50 value = 0.08 mg/mL), the DPPH test (IC50 value = 0.33 mg/mL). The IC50 of DSO against HeLa, TE-1 and MCF-7 cancer cells were (328.3 ± 3.3) μg/mL, (212.4 ± 2.1) μg/mL and (283.8 ± 3.2) μg/mL, respectively. DSO showed potent antioxidant and antiproliferative activities and thus can be utilized as natural antioxidants and health care products.