Essential Oil From Tetrapanax papyrifer (Hook.) K. Koch: Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Activity, α‐Glucosidase Inhibitory Effect Integrating Molecular Docking Analysis

Abstract

The present study investigated the chemical composition of essential oil from Tetrapanax papyrifer and evaluated its antioxidant and anti‐α‐glucosidase activity. Sixty‐one essential oil compounds from Tetrapanax papyrifer were identified by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) and gas chromatography‐flame ionization detector (GC‐FID). The essential oil is rich in sesquiterpenoids (96.05%), with major components identified as β‐cubebene (13.96%), caryophyllene (13.43%), α‐cubebene (12.12%), copaene (7.89%), δ‐cadinene (7.29%), eremophilene (6.15%), humulene (5.26%). The essential oil showed dose‐dependent antioxidant activity with IC50 value of 723.15 ± 24.10 μg/mL, 200.74 ± 9.90 μg/mL for 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'‐azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays, respectively. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) antioxidant capacity was 222.73 ± 25.49 μmol/g. The essential oil exhibited a 17.86 ± 0.56% inhibitory effect against α‐glucosidase at 500 μg/mL. Moreover, in silico molecular docking analyses were utilized to validate the in vitro anti‐α‐glucosidase results further.