Abstract
The essential oil industry of aromatic herbs and spices is currently producing a significant amount of by-products, such as the spent plant materials remaining after steam or hydrodistillation, that are simply discarded. The aim of this study was to comparatively investigate the phytochemical composition, antioxidant and multi-enzymatic inhibitory potential of the essential oils and spent plant material extractives obtained from cinnamon, cumin, clove, laurel, and black pepper. The essential oils were characterized by the presence of several phytochemical markers (cinnamaldehyde, cuminaldehyde, eugenol, eucalyptol, α-terpinene, limonene, β-caryophyllene or β-pinene). On the other hand, the LC-HRMS/MS profiling of the spent material extracts allowed the annotation of species specific and non-specific metabolites, such as organic acids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, hydrolysable tannins, fatty acids, or piperamides. All samples exhibited very strong antioxidant effects, with the clove essential oil displaying the strongest radical scavenging (525.78 and 936.44 mg TE/g in DPPH and ABTS assays), reducing (2848.28 and 1927.98 mg TE/g in CUPRAC and FRAP), and total antioxidant capacity (68.19 mmol TE/g). With respect to the anti-acetylcholinesterase (0.73–2.95 mg GALAE/g), anti-butyrylcholinesterase (0–3.41 mg GALAE/g), anti-tyrosinase (0–76.86 mg KAE/g), anti-amylase and anti-glucosidase (both 0–1.00 mmol ACAE/g) assays, the spice samples showed a modest activity. Overall, our study reports that, not only the volatile fractions of common spices, but also their spent plant materials remaining after hydrodistillation can be regarded as rich sources of bioactive molecules with antioxidant and multi-enzymatic inhibitory effects.
Highlights
Aromatic herbs and spices have been important components of human nutrition since antiquity and are considered as rich dietary sources of phytochemicals for both flavoring and medicinal applications
The GC-mass spectrometer (MS) and GC-flame ionization detector (FID) analyses of the essential oils obtained from five common spices pointed out several phytochemical markers: cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon; cuminaldehyde and safranal in cumin; eugenol in clove; eucalyptol in laurel; and α-terpinene, limonene, β-caryophyllene, and β-pinene in black pepper
The LCHRMS/MS profiling of the spent plant materials extracted with different polarity solvents revealed a complex phytochemical composition of the same spices: organic acids, phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins, and oxygenated fatty acids in cinnamon; flavonoids in cumin; flavonoids and hydrolysable tannins in clove; proanthocyanidins and flavonoids in laurel; and piperamides
Summary
Aromatic herbs and spices have been important components of human nutrition since antiquity and are considered as rich dietary sources of phytochemicals for both flavoring and medicinal applications. Aromatic herbs and spices are commonly used in households as culinary ingredients, but their derived essential oils and extracts found various applications within food, confectionery, perfumery, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical sectors [1]. Besides their distinctive flavor profile, aromatic herbs and spices are highly appreciated as natural preservatives in foods due to antioxidant and antimicrobial propensities [2]. Distinct aroma profiles are attributable to marker compounds such as cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon, eugenol in clove, piperine in black pepper; in addition, various studies showed that these phytochemicals give the specific flavor, and possess significant antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, and anticancer properties [2,3,4,5].
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