Coconut and its extracted oil from copra have served
man as important foods for thousands of years. Since it
contains mostly saturated fatty acids it is believed to be
hypercholestrolemic in action. Presently, virgin coconut
oil (VCO) is gaining wide popularity in the scientific field
and among the public. It is believed that VCO is more beneficial
than usually obtained copra oil since the mode of
extraction retains more biologically active components such
as vitamin E and polyphenols (Nevin & Rajamohan, 2004).
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of
virgin coconut oil on the antioxidant enzyme activities
and lipid peroxidation level when fed to normal rats in
comparison with copra oil (CO) and groundnut oil (GO)
as control.