Extraction conditions to improve antioxidant and antibacterial activity of carrot seed oil

Competition to secure seeds is intensifying due to an increase in food demand and industrial use of biofuels. Therefore, every year, a large number of seeds are produced, but seeds that have exceeded the warranty period or are of poor quality are also discovered during the inspection process. Therefore, a strategy for utilizing non-commercial seeds as agricultural products is required. In this study, extraction methods for enhancing the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of carrot seed oil from non-commercially available (NG) seeds were explored. For this, the carrot seeds were classified into NG and commercially available grade, and the effects of extraction methods [cold pressed extraction (CE), hexane extraction, and soxhlet extraction] and pretreatments [hydro-priming, freeze-thaw (FT), and microwave] were evaluated. Based on the results of the extraction method evaluation, the CE yield was low, but its biological activity was high, and the method eco-friendly. Therefore, as a result of the pretreatment, high-quality oils with desired physicochemical composition, as well as increased extraction yield and biological activity were achieved. In addition, the optimal pretreatment was found to be five repetitions of FT. The methods described in this study can be used to increase the value of seeds by using NG seeds as useful biological materials.