Owing to the poor ability of cells to decompose triglycerides, most studies of edible oil have depended on animal or clinical trials. However, such trials are expensive and time-consuming, and the results are limited to considerable individual differences. This is the first study to comprehensively investigate the effect of different oils on the lipid accumulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in HepG2 cells by hydrolyzing oil to fatty acids with integrated fat content. In addition, the key components of fatty acid composition, phytosterol, polyphenols, and tocopherol/tocotrienol in different oils, contributing to a decrease in content of lipid accumulation, cholesterol, ROS, and malondialdehyde (MDA), were analyzed using multivariate analysis. The results showed that the lipid accumulation content of coconut oil, Pu'er tea oil, olive oil, and flaxseed oil at a concentration of 200 μM decreased by 45.98 ± 0.75, 50.35 ± 1.37, 40.43 ± 2.44, and 42.76 ± 1.88%, respectively, compared with the lard. In addition, the ROS contents of Pu'er tea oil, olive oil, and flaxseed oil had no significant difference from that of control cells ( p < 0.05). In the results, (3β,5α)-stigmastan-3-yl, cholane-5,20(22)-diene-3b-ph, and β-sitosterol were determined to be the key components in edible oils associated with lipid accumulation and ROS production.
Keywords: HepG2 cells; edible oils; key components; lipid accumulation; reactive oxygen species production.