Phytochemical Profile and Evaluation of the Biological Activities of Essential Oils Derived from the Greek Aromatic Plant Species Ocimum basilicum, Mentha spicata, Pimpinella anisum and Fortunella margarita

Abstract

Natural products, known for their medicinal properties since antiquity, are continuously being studied for their biological properties. In the present study, we analyzed the composition of the volatile preparations of essential oils of the Greek plants Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil), Mentha spicata (spearmint), Pimpinella anisum (anise) and Fortunella margarita (kumquat). GC/MS analyses revealed that the major components in the essential oil fractions, were carvone (85.4%) in spearmint, methyl chavicol (74.9%) in sweet basil, trans-anethole (88.1%) in anise, and limonene (93.8%) in kumquat. We further explored their biological potential by studying their antimicrobial, antioxidant and antiproliferative activities. Only the essential oils from spearmint and sweet basil demonstrated cytotoxicity against common foodborne bacteria, while all preparations were active against the fungi Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger. Antioxidant evaluation by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity assays revealed a variable degree of antioxidant potency. Finally, their antiproliferative potential was tested against a panel of human cancer cell lines and evaluated by using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. All essential oil preparations exhibited a variable degree of antiproliferative activity, depending on the cancer model used, with the most potent one being sweet basil against an in vitro model of human colon carcinoma.

Anticonvulsant Essential Oils and Their Relationship with Oxidative Stress in Epilepsy

“…Anise oil's medicinal properties have already been proven and include treatment of non-fatty liver diseases [70]; antidepressant [71], antifungal [72] and antioxidant properties capable of eliminating up to 48% of the free radicals generated in DPPH assay using 48.5 mg/mL [73,74].…”

Centaurea fenzlii Reichardt Özütünün Antioksidan Özellikleri ve Enzim İnhibisyon Etkisinin Belirlenmesi

“…Standart olarak Troloks kullanılmıştır. Değerler mmol Troloks eşdeğeri (TE) g kuru ağırlık olarak ifade edilmiştir (mmol TE/g ka) [21].…”

Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Spearmint (Mentha spicata) Essential Oil in Human Dermal Fibroblasts

“…*indicates a biomarker designated with "key activity"; the biomarker value for the treated cells was significantly different (p<0.05) from that of the vehicle control at the tested concentration, with an effect size of at least 10% (more than 0.05 log ratio units). MCP-1-Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1; VCAM-1 -Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1; ICAM-1 -Intracellular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1; IP-10 -Interferon Gamma-Induced Protein 10; I-TAC -Interferon-inducible T-cell Alpha Chemoattractant; IL-8 -Interleukin 8; MIG -Monokine Induced by Gamma Interferon; EGFR -Epidermal Growth Factor partially attributed to its anti-inflammatory and spasmolytic features recently showed that SEO rich in carvone (85.4%) exhibited antiproliferative activity in cancer cells [1].…”