Comparative Study of the Antioxidant Activity of Forty-five Commonly Used Essential Oils and their Potential Active Components (original) (raw)
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Comprehensive Assessment of Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils
Journal of Food Science, 2012
Essential oils have been studied for their unique ability to act as antioxidants. Antioxidant activities of 423 essential oils of 48 different botanical families were evaluated for their antioxidant activities as free radical scavenging agents using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl method. Seventy-three oils showed 50% or more inhibition at a concentration of 1.25 mg/mL. The 73 most active oil samples were further evaluated for their scavenging activities using series of dilutions to estimate their EC 50 . The EC 50 of the 73 most active oils ranged from 4 to 2000 μg/mL. Oils having an EC 50 of less than 300 μg/mL (20 selected samples) were subjected to β-carotene bleaching antioxidant activity test and more detailed analysis including thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography and bioautography. Essential oils of the botanical families Lamiaceae and Myrtaceae were the most effective antioxidants. Thymol and carvacrol were the major constituents in most of the essential oils of the family Lamiaceae and eugenol was the major terpene in all of the essential oils of the family Myrtaceae.
Biological and Nonbiological Antioxidant Activity of Some Essential Oils
Biological and nonbiological antioxidant activity of some essential oils., 2016
Fifteen essential oils, four essential oil fractions, and three pure compounds (thymol, carvacrol, and eugenol), characterized by gas chromatography and gas chromatography−mass spectrometry, were investigated for biological and nonbiological antioxidant activity. Clove oil and eugenol showed strong DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free-radical scavenging activity (IC 50 = 13.2 μg/mL and 11.7 μg/mL, respectively) and powerfully inhibited reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in human neutrophils stimulated by PMA (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate) (IC 50 = 7.5 μg/mL and 1.6 μg/mL) or H 2 O 2 (IC 50 = 22.6 μg/mL and 27.1 μg/mL). Nutmeg, ginger, and palmarosa oils were also highly active on this test. Essential oils from clove and ginger, as well as eugenol, carvacrol, and bornyl acetate inhibited NO (nitric oxide) production (IC 50 < 50.0 μg/mL). The oils of clove, red thyme, and Spanish oregano, together with eugenol, thymol, and carvacrol showed the highest myeloperoxidase inhibitory activity. Isomers carvacrol and thymol displayed a disparate behavior in some tests. All in all, clove oil and eugenol offered the best antioxidant profile.
Menoufia Journal of Agricultural Biotechnology
The problem of oxidation and free radicals is one of the factors that are very dangerous to human health, which requires searching for safe natural compounds to be included in the diet and work to combat free radicals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant effect of essential oils of basil, thyme and lemongrass by two different methods (FRAP and DPPH) as well as to identify the active ingredients of each oil by GCMS. The results of the fractionation on the GCMS showed that the main components of the essential oils were as follows: basil (L-linalool 59.02% and 1,8-cineole 9.52%), thyme (Thymol 48.06%and p-cymene 38.57%), and lemongrass (Geranial 47.59% and neral 36.27%). In the FRAP method, essential oil of basil was the strongest as an antioxidant (2.35± 0.61 mMol Fe +2 /g), followed by essential oil of thyme (1.96± 0.42 mMol Fe +2 /g), followed by essential oil of lemongrass by a large margin (0.93± 0.21 mMol Fe +2 /g). Whereas, when studying the antioxidant activity by the DPPH method, the results showed through comparison with IC50 values that, basil essential oil was the strongest antioxidant (IC50 =144.78 ± 7.19 μg/ml), followed by lemongrass essential oil (IC50 =170.05 ± 6.97 μg/ml) and finally thyme essential oil (IC50 =183.45 ± 7.19 μg/ml), with a slight difference. The results clearly indicated that the essential oil of basil was the best as an antioxidant compared to the essential oils of lemongrass and thyme in both methods used for the determination of antioxidant activity in vitro (FRAP and DPPH); this makes it a promising source of natural antioxidants that can be used in diets.
Absolute Antioxidant Activity of Five Phenol-Rich Essential Oils
Molecules, 2021
Essential oils (EOs) have promising antioxidant activities which are gaining interest as natural alternatives to synthetic antioxidants in the food and cosmetic industries. However, quantitative data on chain-breaking activity and on the kinetics of peroxyl radical trapping are missing. Five phenol-rich EOs were analyzed by GC-MS and studied by oxygen-uptake kinetics in inhibited controlled autoxidations of reference substrates (cumene and squalene). Terpene-rich Thymus vulgaris (thymol 4%; carvacrol 33.9%), Origanum vulgare, (thymol 0.4%; carvacrol 66.2%) and Satureja hortensis, (thymol 1.7%; carvacrol 46.6%), had apparent kinh (30 °C, PhCl) of (1.5 ± 0.3) × 104, (1.3 ± 0.1) × 104 and (1.1 ± 0.3) × 104 M−1s−1, respectively, while phenylpropanoid-rich Eugenia caryophyllus (eugenol 80.8%) and Cinnamomum zeylanicum, (eugenol 81.4%) showed apparent kinh (30 °C, PhCl) of (5.0 ± 0.1) × 103 and (4.9 ± 0.3) × 103 M−1s−1, respectively. All EOs already granted good antioxidant protection of ...
Radical Scavenging Activity of the Essential Oil of Silver Fir (Abies alba)
Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition, 2009
The essential oil of silver fir (Abies alba) is known to help respiratory system and have easing and soothing effect for muscle. In the present study, we investigated the chemical composition, cytotoxicity and its biological activities of silver fir (Abies alba) essential oil. The composition of the oil was analyzed by GC-MS and bornyl acetate (30.31%), camphene (19.81%), 3-carene (13.85%), tricyclene (12.90%), dl-limonene (7.50%), α-pinene (2.87%), caryophyllene (2.18%), β-phellandrene (2.13%), borneol (1.74%), bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene,2,3dimethyl (1.64%) and α-terpinene (1.24%) were the major components in the oil. The results tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay indicated that the oil showed no cytotoxic effect, at concentrations of 1 and 5%, for as long as 24 and 3 h, respectively. The antiradical capacity was evaluated by measuring the scavenging activity of the essential oil on the 2,20-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis 3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radicals. The oil was able to reduce the both radicals dose-dependently, and the concentration required for 50% reduction (RC50) against DPPH radicals (2.7 ± 0.63%) was lower than ABTS radicals (8.5 ± 0.27%). The antibacterial activity of the oil was also evaluated using disc diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Listeria monocytogenes, Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, and Vibrio parahaemolyticcus. The oil exhibited no antibacterial activity against all the bacterial strains tested except S. aureus of mild activity.
Ceylon cinnamon and clove essential oils as promising free radical scavengers for skin care products
Acta Chimica Slovaca, 2022
Due to adverse effects of free radicals on human skin and increasing consumer demand for natural ingredients, essential oils from basil, Ceylon cinnamon bark, clove, juniper, lavender, oregano, rosemary, tea tree, thyme, and ylang-ylang were assessed for their antiradical activity. The oils were evaluated in the concentration range of 5—0.1 mg·mL−1, in which the three reference synthetic antioxidants are most often added to mass-produced cosmetics. Among all examined samples, C. cinnamon oil at a concentration of 5 mg·mL−1 showed the strongest DPPH radical scavenging activity (0.41 mg·mL−1 IC50), followed by clove oil, BHA, α-tocopherol, and BHT (0.82, 0.84, 0.88 and 0.93 mg·mL−1 IC50), respectively. At the same concentration, the reduction power of C. cinnamon oil was higher (1.64 mg·mL−1 Trolox Eq.) than that of α-tocopherol and BHT (1.42 and 0.80 mmol·L−1 Trolox Eq., respectively) but lower than that of BHA (1.81 mmol·L–1 Trolox Eq.). Antiradical activity of the other eight essen...
Explaining the antioxidant activity of some common non-phenolic components of essential oils
Food chemistry, 2017
Limonene, linalool and citral are common non-phenolic terpenoid components of essential oils, with attributed controversial antioxidant properties. The kinetics of their antioxidant activity was investigated using the inhibited autoxidation of a standard model substrate. Results indicate that antioxidant behavior of limonene, linalool and citral occurs by co-oxidation with the substrate, due to very fast self-termination and cross-termination of the oxidative chain. Rate constants kp and 2kt, (M(-1)s(-1)) at 30°C were 4.5 and 3.5×10(6) for limonene, 2.2 and 9.0×10(5) for linalool and 39 and 1.0×10(8) for citral. Behavior is bimodal antioxidant/pro-oxidant depending on the concentration. Calculations at the M05/6-311+g(2df,2p) level indicate that citral reacts selectively at the aldehyde C-H having activation enthalpy and energy respectively lower by 1.3 and 1.8kcal/mol compared to the most activated allyl position. Their termination-enhancing antioxidant chemistry might be relevant ...