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The effect of bleaching treatments on pistachio lipid peroxidation, phytosterol content, and cytotoxicity of hepa1c1c7 cells

Pistachio consumption is associated with reductions in serum cholesterol and oxidative stress probably due to their constituents of PUFA, phytosterols, fiber and antioxidants. Bleaching has been applied to whiten the nut shell for antifungal and cosmetic purposes. However, the impact of bleaching on nutritional quality of pistachios remains to be examined. In the study, we investigated whether bleaching with H2O2, NaOH, and Fe2+ would increase formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and phytosterol oxides in pistachio oil, as well as cause cytotoxicity of modeled Hepa1c1c7 cells. Bleaching increased MDA by 2‐folds from 0.22 in raw oil to 0.65 μg/g. Bleached pistachio oil had a ≥8% decrease in β‐sitosterol and total phytosterols with a concomitant increase in 7‐keto‐sitosterol formation by >150%. Hepatic cells at 80% confluence were treated with 500, 750, or 1000 μg/mL oil for 24 h. Cell viability determined by MTT assay was inversely associated to oil content in a dose‐dependent manner with bleached oils resulting in the least viability. Lactate dehydrogenase activity in medium, an indicator of cell death, was enhanced in a dose‐dependent manner. While raw oil caused 0–10% cytotoxicity, bleached oil led to 10–32% toxicity. Thus, the bleaching treatment had detrimental effects on nutritional quality of pistachios by increasing lipid peroxidation, decreasing phytosterol contents, and causing cytotoxicity.