Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils from Cupressus sempervirens. var. sempervirens, C. sempervirens. cv. Cereiformis and C. sempervirens var. horizentalis

Abstract

The genus Cupressus belonging to Cupressaceae family has twelve species worldwide. In Iran, Cupressus consists of only one species with two varieties C. sempervirens. var. horizentalis and C. sempervirens. var. sempervirens which has a cultivar namely C. sempervirens. cv. Cereiformis. In this study, the potential antioxidant activities of the oils of different parts of Cupressus sempervirens, C. sempervirens cv. Cereiformis and C. sempervirens var. horizentalis were examined.The qualitative and quantitative compositions of the oils were studied by GC/FID and GC/MS. Then the obtained essential oils, their main components as well as positive controls (Quercetin, DMSO, vitamin E and ascorbic acid) were subjected to different antioxidant tests including Rapid Thin-layer Chromatography method, diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, deoxyribose degradation test, and modified deoxyribose degradation test. While all the essential oils and pure compounds showed activity in rapid TLC screening, only the leaf oil of C. sempervirens var. sempervirens (38.4 %) and C. sempervirens cv. Cereiformis (77.9 %) exhibited moderate activity in DPPH assay. In deoxyribose degradation test, the low concentrations (0.05-0.2 μL/mL) of these two plants showed moderate activity while the fruit oil of C. sempervirens var. horizentalis showed the highest activity (17.7 %). These essential oils may be considered as natural preservatives in low concentrations provided that their organoleptic, cytotoxicity and allergic effects would be examined. Thus, complementary studies are recommended to be established. Moreover, it is suggested to examine the antioxidant activity of these oils by using non-polar or less polar solvent systems before any final conclusion.