Volatile Constituents and Antioxidant Properties of the Ligarine Extracts of Twig, Leaf and Root of Clerodendrum Inerme

Abstract

Volatile constituents were isolated from twig, leaf and root parts of Clerodendrum inerme by ligarine extraction and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). There were 6, 12 and 10 volatile constituents identified from different parts, respectively. All the extracts have in common a great percentage of esters (28.59–69.76%) and a high amount of fatty acids (19.27–41.85%), with the exception of the extract from root, which consisted mainly of meroterpene (37.61%). The antioxidant activity by DPPH test was investigated for all the extracts. The root extract exhibited strong antioxidant property with IC50 value of 67.5 μg/ml, about 26% of the potency of known antioxidantα-tocopherol, which probably due to the presence of 6-methylene-3,3-diphenyl-1,4-cyclohexadiene (2.12%). And the characteristic odor of root extract could be attributed to the presence of ferruginol (37.61%) with strong sensory property. The results present here indicated a potential source suitable for using as antioxidant agent and offered theoretic basis for utilization of the traditional folk herb C. inerme.