Virgin oils obtained from seeds of Camellia oleifera (CO), Camellia reticulata
(CR) and Camellia sasanqua (CS) were studied for their triacylglyceride composition,
antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Levels of fatty acids determined by 1H-nuclear
magnetic resonance analysis were similar to those reported for olive oils (82.30%–84.47%;
5.69%–7.78%; 0.26%–0.41% and 8.04%–11.2%, for oleic, linoleic, linolenic and saturated
acids, respectively). The CR oil showed the best antioxidant potential in the three in vitro
models tested. With regard to EC50 values (μg/mL), the order in DPPH radical-scavenging
was CR (33.48) < CO (35.20) < CS (54.87). Effectiveness in reducing power was CR
(2.81) < CO (3.09) < CS (5.32). IC50 for LPO inhibition were 0.37, 0.52 and 0.75 μg/mL
for CR, CO and CS, respectively. All the oils showed antimicrobial activity, and exhibited
different selectivity and MICs for each microorganism tested (E. coli, B. cereus and
C. albicans). B. cereus was the less sensitive species (MIC: 52.083 ± 18.042 for CO;
41.667 ± 18.042 for CR; 104.167 ± 36.084 for CS mg/mL) and the E. coli was the most
sensitive to camellia oil’s effect. The standard gentamicin presented higher MIC for E. coli
(4.2) than the CR (MIC= 2.6) and CO (MIC = 3.9) oils.
