Antioxidant activity and composition of essential oils of four cultivated aromatic plants in North-West Greece

There is a remarkable development of interest in medicinal and aromatic plants worldwide and their cultivation may contribute to the amelioration of the local agricultural economies. In the present study, the essential oil composition of four cultivated aromatic plants in North-West Greece has been investigated by capillary GC-MS with an HP-5 column and with an EI detector: Ocimum basilicum, Salvia officinalis, Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum and Thymus vulgaris. The major compounds found in essential oils were (a) for O. basilicum: linalool (55.2%) and α-bergamotene (5.9%), (b) for S. officinalis: α-pinene (6.8%), eucalyptol (17.5%), α-thujone (30.5%), β-thujone (6.0%), camphor (12.7%) and α-caryophyllene (6.2%), (c) for O. vulgare subsp. hirtum: p-cymene (11.7%), γ-terpinene (14.5%) and carvacrol (51.9%) and (d) for T. vulgaris: p-cymene (29.6%), γ-terpinene (16.3%) and thymol (26.8%). Moreover, the essential oils were tested for their free radical scavenging activity using the following in vitro assays: i) interaction with the free stable radical of DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl), ii) inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation induced by the dihydrochlroic acid of 2,2-Azabis-2-aminepropane (AAPH). Finally, their inhibitory activity toward soybean lipoxygenase was evaluated, using linoleic acid as substrate. All the samples presented interesting antioxidant activity. They found to strongly inhibit lipid peroxidation as well as soybean lipoxygenase.

Acknowledgements: Regional Development Fund of the Region of Western Macedonia for financial support