Fatty acid profile, oxidative stability and toxicological safety of bayberry kernel oil

•Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction affects the fatty acid profile of BKO.•The change of peroxide values indicates BKO is more prone to be oxidized.•BKO shows a negative result in bacterial reverse mutation study.•No obvious acute toxicology is observed in acute oral toxicity study in mice.

The fatty acid profile, oxidative stability and toxicological safety of bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc.) kernel oil (BKO) extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) and solvent of diethyl ether were assessed. Fatty acid profile was determined by gas chromatography, oxidative stability by placing the sample of 25 g in a blast oven at 50 ± 1 °C to accelerate oxidation and toxicological safety by bacterial reverse mutation (Ames test) and acute oral toxicity in mice. The results demonstrated that in comparison to lard and rapeseed oil, the peroxide values of BKO were higher but the acid values were similar during the incubation test. The Ames test demonstrated no mutagenicity and no obvious acute toxicity were observed, suggesting that the BKO has potential as a novel edible oil.