Essential oils of basil chemotypes: Major compounds, binary mixtures, and antioxidant activity

Hyrla Grazielle Silva de Araújo Couto; Arie Fitzgerald Blank; Ana Mara de Oliveira E Silva; Paulo Cesar de Lima Nogueira; Maria de Fátima Arrigoni-Blank; Daniela Aparecida de Castro Nizio; Jessika Andreza de Oliveira Pinto

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.04.078

Essential oils of basil chemotypes: Major compounds, binary mixtures, and antioxidant activity

Food Chem. 2019 Sep 30:293:446-454. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.04.078. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Authors

Hyrla Grazielle Silva de Araújo Couto¹, Arie Fitzgerald Blank², Ana Mara de Oliveira E Silva³, Paulo Cesar de Lima Nogueira⁴, Maria de Fátima Arrigoni-Blank², Daniela Aparecida de Castro Nizio², Jessika Andreza de Oliveira Pinto²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Plant Genetic Resources and Essential Oils, Department of Agronomic Engineering, Federal University of Sergipe, Avenida Marechal Rondon s/n, Rosa Elze, CEP 49100-000 São Cristóvão, State of Sergipe, Brazil. Electronic address: hyrlagrazielle@hotmail.com.
² Laboratory of Plant Genetic Resources and Essential Oils, Department of Agronomic Engineering, Federal University of Sergipe, Avenida Marechal Rondon s/n, Rosa Elze, CEP 49100-000 São Cristóvão, State of Sergipe, Brazil.
³ Laboratory of Bromatology, Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Sergipe, Avenida Marechal Rondon s/n, Rosa Elze, CEP 49100-000 São Cristóvão, State of Sergipe, Brazil.
⁴ Research Laboratory in Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Sergipe, Avenida Marechal Rondon s/n, Rosa Elze, CEP 49100-000 São Cristóvão, State of Sergipe, Brazil.

PMID: 31151633
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.04.078

Abstract

The antioxidant potential of the essential oils (EO) of 24 basil genotypes was assessed by 4 distinct in vitro evaluation methods. Different combinations of the major compounds found in the EO were also tested to identify those combinations responsible for the antioxidant activity of the volatile oils and verify the occurrence of synergism or antagonism between them. Results indicate that 9 EO exhibited promising antioxidant potential, with at least 52.68% of inhibition of the linoleic acid peroxidation at 10 µL/mL and 76.34% of inhibition of the DPPH radical at 1 µL/mL. The major compound eugenol had the highest antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of these EO cannot be explained solely by the presence of the major compounds. Despite the influence of eugenol, the antioxidant activity is also related to the synergism between other minor compounds found in the EO. This fact confers a potent antioxidant activity to some basil EO.

Keywords: 1,8 cineole (PubChem CID: 2758); Antagonism; Eugenol; Eugenol (PubChem CID: 3314); Geranial (PubChem CID: 638011); Linalool (PubChem CID: 6549); Methyl chavicol (PubChem CID: 8815); Methyl cinnamate (PubChem CID: 637520); Neral (PubChem CID: 643779); Ocimum; Synergism; Volatile oil.

MeSH terms

Antioxidants / chemistry*
Drug Synergism
Eugenol / chemistry
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Ocimum basilicum / chemistry*
Ocimum basilicum / metabolism
Oils, Volatile / chemistry*
Principal Component Analysis
Volatile Organic Compounds / analysis*

Substances

Antioxidants
Oils, Volatile
Volatile Organic Compounds
Eugenol