The antioxidant activity of date seed: Preliminary results of a preclinical in vivo study

Chronic diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer), are by far the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Oxidative stress is one of the underlying mechanism in the development and enhancement of chronic diseases. Polyphenols are particularly abundant in date seeds and can contribute in the progress of chronic diseases due to antioxidant properties. The present work studies the effects of date seeds and examines the oxidative stress status on serum and organs of Male Wistar rats after feeding them with basal diet comprising 0, 2, 4 or 8 g/kg date seed powder (DSP) for a period of 13 weeks. Isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets were subjected to all the four groups. Antioxidant status, protein and lipid oxidative biomarkers were measured in the serum and organs and histopathology was done. The results showed that DSP suggestively (P < 0.05) elevated the antioxidant defense system of the serum and organs. DSP decreased protein and lipid oxidative damages in the liver, muscle and brain. In addition, DSP did not alter the organs' function based on the analysis of biochemical markers. The results indicate that oxidative stress-related diseases could be possibly prevented by the DSP bioactive antioxidants.