Avaliação da toxicidade de nanopartículas de óleo de buriti (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) em modelo de Caenorhabditis elegans.

Abstract

Vegetable oils are lipid substances extracted from plants, generally in the form of triglycerides rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Buriti oil (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) has antioxidant and antifungal properties, in addition to having a high content of unsaturated fatty acids, beta-carotenes and phenolic compounds. The purpose of this study was to chemically characterize the nanoparticle based on porcine gelatin (encapsulating agent) containing buriti oil (OGS), evaluate the nanocapsule and the crude buriti oil (OB) and analyze toxicity using Caenorhabditis elegans as an animal model. Encapsulation was performed by the oil/water emulsification technique, using Tween 20 as a surfactant. The obtained encapsulates were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The nanoparticles presented an average diameter of 69.72 (15.20) nm for OGS, spherical morphology, uniform surface and no apparent irregularities. The results of the toxicity tests on C. elegans revealed that there were no changes in the nematode egg hatching test at the concentrations used for both OB and OGS. The results of the toxicity tests on C. elegans revealed that there were no changes in the nematode egg hatching test at the concentrations used, both for OB and OGS. In the body size test, OB promoted a significant increase in the body region of the nematodes at the concentrations evaluated. In contrast, the nanoformulation induced a reduction in the body size of the organisms evaluated. The results obtained demonstrate that in the tests evaluated, OB and OGS are not toxic to the hatching of C. elegans eggs, as well as OB in the body size test.