Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the chemical composition and biological activity of the volatile oils (VOs) from the flowers of three buckwheat species, Fagopyrum esculentum, Fagopyrum tataricum and Fagopyrum cymosum. The VOs were obtained from the fresh buckwheat flowers by hydrodistillation, and were analyzed for their chemical composition by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Nonanoic acid (7.58%), (E)-3-hexen-1-ol (6.52%), and benzothiazole (5.08%) were the major constituents among the 28 identified components which accounted for 92.89% of the total oil of F. esculentum. 2-Pentadecanone (18.61%), eugenol (17.18%), 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-methylpropyl) ester (13.19%), and (E,E)-farnesylacetone (7.15%) were the major compounds among the 14 identified components which accounted for 88.48% of the total oil of F. tataricum. Eugenol (12.22%), (E)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate (8.03%), linalool oxide (7.47%), 1-hexanol (7.07%), and benzothiazole (6.72%) were the main compounds of the 20 identified components which accounted for 90.23% of the total oil of F. cymosum. The three VOs were screened to have broad spectrum antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from 100.0 μg/mL to 800.0 μg/mL against the tested bacteria, and their median inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were from 68.32 μg/mL to 452.32 μg/mL. Xanthomonas vesicatoria was the most sensitive bacterium. Moreover, the flower VOs of F. esculentum, F. tataricum and F. cymosum also exhibited noteworthy antioxidant capacity with the IC50 value of 354.15 μg/mL, 210.63 μg/mL, and 264.92 μg/mL for the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay, and the value of 242.06 μg/mL, 184.13 μg/mL, and 206.11 μg/mL respectively for the β-carotene-linoleic bleaching test. These results suggested the volatile oils of buckwheat flowers could be potential resource of natural antimicrobial and antioxidant agents.
Highlights
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the exploration of naturally-occurring antimicrobials and antioxidants as the growing consumer demand for agricultural byproducts free from synthetic chemical additives [1,2]
For the flower volatile oil of F. esculentum, about twenty-eight compounds were identified, which accounted for 92.89% of the total oil
The term significant difference was based on p ≤ 0.05. This is the first report on the chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of the volatile oils from the fresh flowers of three buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum, Fagopyrum tataricum and Fagopyrum cymosum
Summary
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the exploration of naturally-occurring antimicrobials and antioxidants as the growing consumer demand for agricultural byproducts free from synthetic chemical additives [1,2]. Molecules 2018, 23, 182 originated from medicinal plants have been demonstrated to have notable antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant and insecticidal activities [3,4,5]. They are more beneficial for human health and environment safety, and attracted many researchers’ interests. A large number of volatile oils (VOs) have been widely used in agriculture, medicine, food and cosmetic industry [6,7,8,9]. Buckwheat belongs to the family of Polygonaceae. Fagopyrum esculentum (Common buckwheat) has been a crop of secondary importance in many countries, and the main producers are the Russian
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