Abstract
Origanum vulgare L. has been used as a culinary ingredient worldwide. This study revealed the cosmeceutical potential of O. vulgare essential oil as a skin-ageing retardant. The O. vulgare essential oil from a highland area of a tropical country (HO), obtained by hydrodistillation was investigated and compared to a commercial oil from the Mediterranean region (CO). Their chemical compositions were investigated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Antioxidant activities were investigated by ferric reducing antioxidant power, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, and ferric thiocyanate assay. Anti-skin-ageing activities were determined by means of collagenase, elastase, and hyaluronidase inhibition. Carvacrol was the major component in both oils, but a higher amount was detected in HO (79.5%) than CO (64.6%). HO possessed comparable radical scavenging activity to CO (IC50 = 1.8 ± 0.8 mg/mL) but significantly higher lipid peroxidation inhibition (38.0 ± 0.8%). Carvacrol was remarked as the major compound responsible for the reducing power of both oils. Interestingly, HO possessed significant superior anti-skin-ageing activity than ascorbic acid (P < 0.01), with inhibition against collagenase, elastase, and hyaluronidase of 92.0 ± 9.7%, 53.1 ± 13.3%, and 16.7 ± 0.3%, at the concentration of 67, 25, and 4 µg/mL, respectively. Since HO possessed comparable anti-hyaluronidase activity to CO and superior anti-collagenase and anti-elastase (P < 0.01), HO was suggested to be used as a natural skin-ageing retardant in a cosmetic industry.
Highlights
Origanum vulgare L., which belongs to the family Lamiaceae, is native to the highland area of the Mediterranean region of Europe and Asia [1]
The results indicated that HO was of a similar quality as CO, since the relative density and refractive index, which are the parameters widely used for quality control, were exactly the same
Were in good agreement with a previous study of Viuda-Martos et al [24] which reported that relative density and refractive index of O. vulgare essential oil obtained by steam extraction from flowers were
Summary
Origanum vulgare L., which belongs to the family Lamiaceae, is native to the highland area of the Mediterranean region of Europe and Asia [1]. Tropical countries need to import O. vulgare from overseas because of inappropriate cultivation conditions. O. vulgare is currently cultivated in the highland area of some tropical countries, such as Thailand. The Thai Royal Project Foundation encourages people in the highland area (higher than 1000 m above sea level) to cultivate this winter plant instead of shifting cultivation to another area and causing further deforestation [3,4]. Cultivation of economic crops in the highland area would reduce deforestation and increase the income of highland people. Locally cultivated O. vulgare is available in Thailand, it is not popular since there was no helpful data about this plant. Investigation of the biological activities of O. vulgare from Thailand would
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