Abstract
Zanthoxylum mezoneurispinosum Ake Assi and Zanthoxylum psammophilum Ake Assi are species endemic to Côte d’Ivoire. In this study, we determined, for the first time, the composition and biological activities of essential oils obtained from each of these plants. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation from different organs of each plant with a Clevenger-type apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirty-four components, accounting for more than 99.9% of the overall composition, were identified in the oils. The Z. psammophilum leaf and trunk bark oils exhibited two unusual methylketones, undecan-2-one and tridecan-2-one, whereas the root oil was rich in thymol and sesquiterpenoids. The Z. mezoneurispinosum leaf and trunk bark oils were rich in monoterpenoids, whereas sesquiterpenoids were predominant in the root oil. These samples produced, for the first time, some new chemical profiles of essential oils. The oils’ antioxidant activities were determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The results showed that the essential oil isolated from roots of Z. mezoneurispinosum had the highest antioxidant activity, which is in accordance with the high thymol content of that oil. We also determined the lipoxygenase inhibitory activities of the essential oils. The results showed that all of the tested oils displayed high and close lipoxygenase inhibitory activities.
Highlights
The genus Zanthoxylum, family of Rutaceae, contains approximately 250 species that are distributed in subtropical and tropical climates in America, Africa, Asia, and Australia [1]
Average yields of 0.5% and 0.05% for leaf oil, 0.2% and 3.2% for trunk bark oil, and 0.04% and 0.02% for root oil were obtained for Z. mezoneurispinosum and Z. psammophilum, respectively (Figure 2)
The results showed that the essential oils isolated from different organs of Z. mezoneurispinosum had lower IC50 values than those isolated from different organs of Z. psammophilum (p-value
Summary
The genus Zanthoxylum, family of Rutaceae, contains approximately 250 species that are distributed in subtropical and tropical climates in America, Africa, Asia, and Australia [1]. This genus is well-known for its interesting biological properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, and anticancer properties [2,3,4,5,6,7]. These properties help to explain the extensive use of these plants in traditional medicine to treat a range of diseases, including anemia, cancer, sickle cell disease, infertility, rheumatism, osteoarthritis, and dysentery [8].
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