Abstract
This study investigated the chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of essential oil extracted from Artemisia aragonensis Lam. (EOA). Hydrodistillation was employed to extract EOA. Gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses (GC-MS) were used to determine the phytochemical composition of EOA. Antioxidant potential was examined in vitro by use of three tests: 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrilhidrazil (DPPH), ferric reducing activity power (FRAP) and total antioxidant capacity assay (TAC). Agar diffusion and microdilution bioassays were used to assess antimicrobial activity. GC/MS and GC-FID detected 34 constituents in the studied EOA. The major component was Camphor (24.97%) followed by Borneol (13.20%), 1,8 Cineol (10.88%), and Artemisia alcohol (10.20%). EOA exhibited significant antioxidant activity as measured by DPPH and FRAP assays, with IC50 and EC50 values of 0.034 ± 0.004 and 0.118 ± 0.008 mg/mL, respectively. EOA exhibited total antioxidant capacity of 7.299 ± 1.774 mg EAA/g. EOA exhibited potent antibacterial activity as judged by the low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against selected clinically-important pathogenic bacteria. MIC values of 6.568 ± 1.033, 5.971 ± 1.033, 7.164 ± 0.0 and 5.375 ± 0.0 μg/mL were observed against S. aureus, B. subtills, E. coli 97 and E. coli 57, respectively. EOA displayed significant antifungal activity against four strains of fungi: F. oxysporum, C. albicans, A. flavus and A. niger with values of 21.50 ± 0.43, 5.31 ± 0.10, 21.50 ± 0.46 and 5.30 ± 0.036 μg/mL, respectively. The results of the current study highlight the importance of EOA as an alternative source of natural antioxidant and antibacterial drugs to combat antibiotic-resistant microbes and free radicals implicated in the inflammatory responses accompanying microbial infection.
Highlights
Plants constitute a natural reservoir of substances with antioxidant potential [1]
The yield of extracted from Artemisia aragonensis Lam. (EOA) was 1.18%, which was reasonable compared with essential oil (EO) extracted from plants that have been industrially exploited as a natural source of EOs
The results indicated that the EOA was capable of inhibiting the DPPH free radicals with an IC50 value of 0.034 ± 0.004 mg/mL, whilst other tested synthetic antioxidants such as BHT, Ascorbic Acid, and Quercetin showed IC50 values of 0.0203 ± 0.005, 0.0124 ± 0.001 and
Summary
Plants constitute a natural reservoir of substances with antioxidant potential [1]. The use and development of natural antioxidants are highly appreciated due to their role in the protection of human cells from damage caused by free radicals [2,3]. Rather than synthetic antioxidants, appear to be preferred by food industry users for preventing oxidative deterioration of foodstuffs caused by free radicals. It has been previously reported that the use of synthesized antioxidants such as tertbutyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxytoluene, and butylated hydroxyanisole is no longer advised because of their carcinogenic potential [4]. BHA and BHT are involved in liver damage along with other adverse health effects.
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