Background:

Vegetable oils have antimicrobial activity and promote cell proliferation. Sunflower oil is used as an alternative for treating skin wounds, particularly in underdeveloped or developing countries.

Objective:

To characterize sunflower oil and evaluate the in vitro effects on cell proliferation and antimicrobial activity.

Methodology:

The study was carried out using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis and cell proliferation and antimicrobial activity tests.

Results:

The chromatographic analysis identified the main components of sunflower oil, namely: unsaturated fatty acids (82.2%) with linoleic (47.8%), oleic (28.7%), and linolenic (3.9%) acids as the main lipids, followed by saturated (12.70%), palmitic (8.8%) and stearic (3.6%) acids. A difference (p < 0.001) in cell proliferation was found between treatments with sunflower oil (100 and 10 µg/ml) and the negative controls. It failed in antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Conclusion:

Sunflower oil contains a high concentration of essential fatty acids and promotes cell proliferation but fails to inhibit bacterial activity.

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