Toxicity, cytotoxicity, mutagenicity and in vitro antioxidant models of 2-oleyl-1,3-dipalmitoyl-glycerol isolated from the hexane extract of Platonia insignis MART seeds

2-oleyl-1,3-dipalmitoyl-glycerol (ODG) was obtained from Platonia insignis (bacurizeiro) seeds. There are no studies on its toxicity and protective activities against oxidative stress. This study was aimed to evaluate antioxidant effects in vitro, as well as to evaluate the toxicological and mutagenic effects of the ODG. ODG showed a median lethal dose (LD(50)) greater than 1200 μg mL(−1) in A. salina. In the assay of A. cepa (0.2–0.002 mg mL(−1)) the ODG compound at the highest concentration was slightly cytotoxic with decrease in the size of roots and mitotic indexes, but did not induce chromosomal alterations. ODG (8.75–140.00 μg mL(−1)) was found to reduce nitric oxide production by 41.6 %, while the antioxidant standard ascorbic acid (AA) reduced 54.14 %. ODG (15.625–250.00 μg mL(−1)) promoted removal of the hydroxyl radical by 35.69 % at the highest concentration and was able to prevent lipid peroxidation induced by 2,2'-azobis-2-amidinopropane (AAPH), inhibiting the amount of TBARS formed, up to 35.69 %, a result close to that obtained with AA. Thus, ODG moderately reduced the levels of hydroxyl radicals, nitric oxide, and TBARS in vitro and was nontoxic at low concentrations.