Abstract

The present study was designed to convert Saudi Arabian Sukkari waste date seeds into pyrolysis liquid char oil in a slow pyrolysis reactor and determine the phytoconstituents by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The date seed in particle form was pyrolysed in an externally heated pan sand bath to obtain 5.2 % v/w liquid char oil. The liquid char oil (20 ml) was dissolved in 100 ml aqueous methanol (30:70) and was four times fractionated with 25 ml of n-hexane. Small portion (1 g) of both methanol and n-hexane fraction was subjected to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. Phytochemical screening of both fractions revealed the presence of steroids, alkaloids, reducing sugars, phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, fatty acids and amino acids. The prevailing compounds found in n-hexane fraction were cyclolanost-24-en-3-ol (11.25 %), stigmast-5-en-3 β–ol (2.02%), lupen-3-one (3.50%), isopropyl myristate (0.64%), palmitic acid, methyl ester (0.74 %), oleic acid (0.77 %), tridecane (5.66 %), and dodecane (4.42 %). Compounds found in methanol fraction were mainly stigmast-5-en-3-ol (5.77 %), propylene glycol monooleate (2.82 %), guanosine (35.92 %), DL-arabinitol (2.11 %), dodecanoic acid (8.14 %), stearic acid (4.22 %), palmitic acid (7.61 %), oleic acid (9.13 %), 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine (1.87 %) and 2-butylbutanoic acid (1.01 %). The presence of these bioactive compounds confirmed the application of the Sukkari varieties of date seeds for various medicinal activities in future drug discovery system and could be analyzed for antiinflammatory, antioxidant, cardiovascular, anticancer and immunosuppressant activities. However, isolation of individual phytochemical constituents may proceed to find a novel drug.