Résumé:
The date fruit represents a national heritage, by its taste and nutritional qualities, but not only
that, because of its richness in active phytochemical compounds, it could be considered as a
new therapeutic potential. For these reasons, this natural product has been the subject of our
study, in order to evaluate its antioxidant activity in vivo. A qualitative analysis is carried out
and confirmed by a quantitative study. The antioxidant activity was evaluated in vivo for
aqueous extracts of pulp and date seeds at 150 and 300 mg / kg. The treatment was
established for ten days followed by intraperitoneal (IP) injection of mercury chloride (HgCl2)
at a single dose (1.5 mg / kg). Qualitative phytochemical analyses of aqueous extracts of pulp
and date seeds revealed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, terpenoids and
alkaloids with different intensities. As for the contents of total phenols, flavonoids, condensed
and hydrolysable tannins, they were detected with higher concentrations in the aqueous
extract of date seeds. The biochemical parameters studied showed significantly elevated TGO,
urea and creatinine levels in the groups: negative control (T-), treated with the pulp extract at
150mg / kg (EPD1) and 300mg / kg (EPD2), treated with the seeds extract at 150 mg / kg
(END1) and 300 mg / kg (END2) and treated with ascorbic acid (Vit C) at 50 mg / kg (STD)
compared to the positive control (T +). However, these increases observed in the treated
groups remain more moderate compared to the negative control (T-). The histological study
demonstrated a remarkable hepatoprotective and nephroprotective effect in the groups treated
with aqueous extracts of pulp at 300mg / kg (EPD2) and of seeds at 150mg / kg (END1) and
300mg / kg (END2). In conclusion, our study suggests that the extracts of date’s pulp and
seeds possess an antioxidant effect which could probably be related to their content of
phenolic compounds.
