Composition and Functional Properties of the Essential Oil of Amazonian Basil, Ocimum micranthum Willd., Labiatae in Comparison with Commercial Essential Oils

Abstract

Wild Amazonian basil Ocimum micranthum Willd. (O. campechianum Mill.) Labiatae essential oil was analyzed by GC and GC-MS: 31 compounds were identified. The main components were eugenol (46.55 +/- 5.11%), beta-caryophyllene (11.94 +/- 1.31%), and beta-elemene (9.06 +/- 0.99%), while a small amount of linalool (1.49 +/- 0.16%) was detected. The oil was tested for its in vitro food-related biological activities and compared with common basil Ocimum basilicum and Thymus vulgaris commercial essential oils. Radical scavenging activity was evaluated employing 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The oil exerted a good capacity to act as a nonspecific donor of hydrogen atoms or electrons when checked in the diphenylpicrylhydrazyl assay, quenching 76,61 +/- 0.33% of the radical, with values higher than those reported by reference oils. In the beta-carotene bleaching test, the oil provided an antioxidant efficacy comparable with that of O. basilicum and T. vulgaris essential oils. These data were confirmed by photochemiluminescence, where the oil showed a remarkable antioxidant capacity (2.39 +/- 0.1), comparable to that of Trolox and vitamin E, and higher than the other essential oils. Antibacterial activity of O. micranthum essential oil was evaluated against Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains. The oil showed a dose-dependent antifungal activity against pathogenic and food spoiling yeasts.

Minor iridoids from Scutellaria albida ssp. albida. Inhibitory potencies on lipoxygenase, linoleic acid lipid peroxidation and antioxidant activity of iridoids from Scutellaria sp.

“…Several methods are used for the estimation of efficiency of synthetic/natural antioxidants, like the 2, 2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)/linoleic acid assay 24 , 1,1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay [25][26][27][28][29] . The antioxidant activity of the 12 iridoids has been evaluated in both in vitro tests.…”

“…In literature, many studies concerning the antioxidant activity of natural substances tested with DPPH have been reported [25][26][27][28][29] .…”

Antioxidant capacity and biological activity of essential oil and methanol extract of Hyptis crenata Pohl ex Benth

“…Tsimidou and Boskou (1994) observed that between the herbs and spices extensively studied, the plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family have significant antioxidant activity. In spite of the intensive investigation of the antioxidant activities of the European and Asian herbs and spices, little is known about the properties of these plants in South America (Stashenko et al, 2004;Sachettii et al, 2004;Costa et al, 2008;Sousa et al, 2008).…”

Antimicrobial activity of various extracts of <i>Ocimum basilicum</i> l. and observation of the inhibition effect on bacterial cells by use of scanning electron microscopy

“…Within this family, the genus Ocimum provides various species, and Ocimum basilicum is one of the more than 60 Ocimum species. These Ocimum plants, plant parts, extracts and essential oils are used as spices and flavours for various food products as well as effective drugs for many applications in folk medicine especially in Africa and Asia (Sacchetti et al, 2004;Jirovetz et al, 2003).…”