Abstract
Blumea balsamifera, also named Ainaxiang, is widely used as an ancient medicinal herb in tropical and subtropical Asia. It is rich in essential oils. In this work the essential oils of B. balsamifera from different plant organs and in different months were extracted, and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that essential oil yield of young leaves was the highest (0.65 mL/100 g), followed by mature leaves (0.57 mL/100 g), and the oil yield was higher in October (0.47 mL/100 g) than other months. A total of 44 compounds were identified, representing 92.64%–96.71% of the oil. Eighteen common chemical components were found among the six plant organs, representing >80% of the oil constituents. l-borneol was the main ingredient in leaves, and its content was the highest in senescent leaves and in December. In the essential oils of young shoots and young stems, the main component was dimethoxydurene. Antioxidant activity was also determined using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene bleaching (BCB) assays. The results indicated that the β-carotene bleaching activity was far stronger than the DPPH radical-scavenging capacity, and the young leaves and young shoots showed stronger antioxidant activity. Dimethoxydurene, β-caryophyllene, and α-caryophyllene play a positive role in good antioxidant activity, while β-eudesmol, phytol, and tetradecanal play a negative role. The antioxidant activity revealed in this study might help in developing this promising bioresource for use in the medicinal and cosmetic industries.
Highlights
Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC, named as Ainaxiang or Dafeng’ai in China, is a perennial shrub which belongs to the Asteraceae family
The oil yield was higher in October (0.47 mL/100 g), while the oil yield was the lowest in November (0.36 mL/100 g), but there was no significant difference between the four months (p < 0.05)
Variations in oil yields did not show the same pattern as the percentages of l-borneol in the essential oil
Summary
Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC, named as Ainaxiang or Dafeng’ai in China, is a perennial shrub which belongs to the Asteraceae family. Molecules 2016, 21, 1024 usually used by native people to treat beriberi, eczema, lumbago, dermatitis, rheumatism, and skin injuries [1,2,3,4], because of its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory activity [5,6], enhancement of percutaneous penetration activity [7], and wound healing activity [8] It is the only plant source of Aipian, which is recorded in the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (2010 version). It was found that 100% w/v B. balsamifera oil applied to intact and damaged skin for 24 h showed no significant allergy or acute toxicity [8] It is widely used in the medical cosmetic and fragrances industry because of its unique fragrance.
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