Nutritional Intervention Study with Argan Oil in Man: Effects on Lipids and Apolipoproteins

A. Derouiche, M. Cherki, A. Drissi, Bamou, El Messal, Idrissi-Oudghiri, J.M. Lecerf, A. Adlouni

The following is a section of the article. View full article >

Virgin argan oil (VAO) is the extract of the pit of arganier which is the hard core of the fruit of Argania spinosa , an endemic tree growing in southwestern Morocco. This comestible oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids (oleic and linoleic) and other compounds (tocopherols, polyphenols, and sterols) [11] . The quality of its fatty acids suggests a possible role in the nutritional prevention of CVD. Furthermore, the abundance of phenolic and tocopherol compounds provides a powerful antioxidant effect. The pharmacological and dietary properties of VAO have apparently never been investigated before in human beings. For this reason, our objective was to assess the effect of argan oil consumption on the lipid metabolism by studying the lipid and lipoprotein profi les through a nutritional interventional study in 60 healthy male volunteers.View full article >