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DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264524
Essential oil of Centaurea pannonica (Heufel) Simonkai and antioxidant activity of the methanol extract
During the last few decades, an intensive search of the safety of synthetic food additives has been carried out and many of them have been found to possess toxic activity [1]. Therefore the general trend is to replace them in food processing by natural antioxidants. Essential oils or plant extracts are proposed as alternative sources for the preservation of food [2]. Centaurea pannonica, is an erect perennial growing wild plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. Its essential oil was isolated from air-dried aerial parts by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC/MS [3]. Forty five compounds were identified, representing 82.2% of total oil, with 9-octadecanoic acid (34.0%), caryophyllene oxide (8.0%) and spathulenol (6.0%) being the main compounds. The methanol extract of C. pannonica was investigated for its antioxidant potential by using five different assays, including: total antioxidant capacity, free radical scavenging (DPPH), inhibitory activity toward lipid peroxidation, Fe3+-reducing power and Fe2+-chelating ability. The content of total phenolics in the methanol extract was determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteu procedure [4] and calculated as 105.96mg±9.22 GA/g dry extract. Moreover a spectrometric method with aluminum chloride [5] was used for the determination of total flavonoids, which was estimated to be 111.36±10.03mg rutin (RU)/g dry extract. The results show a significant antioxidant activity of the investigated extract compared to standard antioxidant compounds, such as butylated hydrohytoluene (BHT), gallic acid (GA), ascorbic acid (AA) and α-tocopherol.
Total antioxidant capacity (mg AA/g dry extract) |
IC50 (µg/ml) |
|||
DPPH scavenging activity |
Inhibitory activity toward lipid peroxidation |
Metal chelating activity |
||
C. pannonica |
214.26±12.91 |
53.05±2.52 |
7.10±0.05 |
(1.62±0.09) x 103 |
BHT |
- |
15.61±1.31 |
1.00±0.03 |
- |
GA |
- |
3.79±0.21 |
255.43±15.01 |
- |
AA |
- |
6.05±0. 25 |
>1000 |
- |
α-tocopherol |
- |
- |
0.48±0.02 |
- |
Acknowledgements: Greek foundation of Scholarships (IKY) and Ministry of Science, Republic of Serbia (project No. 142025).
References: 1. Akoh, C.C. and Min, D.B. (1998) Food Lipids: Chemistry, nutrition, and biotechnology. Marcel Dekker. New York. pp. 423–448.
2. Pokorný, J. (1991) Trends Food Sci. Tech. 2:223–227.
3. Lazari, D. et. al. (2000) Flavour Fragr. J. 15:7–11.
4. Pharmacopoeia Jugoslavica 4th ed. (1984) National Institute for Health Protection: Belgrade.
5. Brighente, I.M.C. et.al. (2007) Pharm. Biol. 45: 156–161.