Habtamu Andargie

Phytochemical Investigation of Antioxidants of Wheat Germ Oil: Extraction and Characterization of Wheat Germ Oil Habtamu Andargie

Wheat germ oil has the highest tocopherol content of all vegetable oils, up to about 2,500 mg/kg, and also the highest content of ?-tocopherol, it is also highly valued for its high content of unsaturated fatty acids mostly of linoleic (18:2) and linolenic (18:3) acids (Wang and Johnson, 2001), both of which are of great importance in human metabolism and cannot be synthesized by the organism. They are precursors of a group of hormones called prostaglandins, which play an important role in muscle contractions and in the proper healing of inflammatory processes. Furthermore, linoleic acid helps to eliminate cholesterol and is a precursor of cell membrane phospholipids.