Virgin coconut oil: A comprehensive review of antioxidant activity and mechanisms contributed by phenolic compounds

Abstract

Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is obtained by processing mature coconut cores with mechanical or natural methods. In recent years, VCO has been widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries because of its excellent functional activities. VCO has biological functions such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral, and also has potential therapeutic effects on many chronic degenerative diseases. Among these functions, the antioxidant is the most basic and important function, which is mainly determined by phenolic compounds and medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). This review aims to elucidate the antioxidant functions of each phenolic compound in VCO, and discuss the antioxidant mechanisms of VCO in terms of the role of phenolic compounds with fat, intestinal microorganisms, and various organs. Besides, the composition of VCO and its application in various industries are summarized, and the biological functions of VCO are generalized, which should lay a foundation for further research on the antioxidant activity of VCO and provide a theoretical basis for the development of food additives with antioxidant activity.

Keywords:

• Virgin coconut oil
• phenolic compounds
• antioxidant
• mechanism

Declaration of interest statement

The authors have declared that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Program for Science & Technology Innovation Platform/Talents of Hunan Province (2019TP1029), Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China (2020JJ4278), the key program of Hunan Provincial Department of science and technology (2020WK2020), Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (21A0161), Central South University of Forestry and Technology Introduced Talent Research Startup Fund (2021YJ034 and 2021YJ014).