ᐊ P7-31
Open Readings 2021 • P7-32
P7-33 ᐅ

ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF NUTMEG ESSENTIAL OIL (PURE, WITH MAGNESIUM ALUMINOMETASILICATE AS EXCIPIENT AND THEIR MIXTURE IN A RATIO OF 1:1)

Inga Matulytė1, 2, Akvilė Mataraitė3, Jurga Bernatonienė1, 2

1 Department of Drug Technology and Social Pharmacy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania

2 Institute of Pharmaceutical Technologies, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania

3 Faculty of Medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania

[email protected]

Nutmeg essential oil is colorless to pale-yellow with a specific odor [1]. It has antimicrobial, antiseptic, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects [2,3]. Chemical compounds, existing in essential oil, can bind free radicals and protect the live organism from negative influence [4]. The aim of this study was to compare the antioxidant activity of nutmeg essential oil prepared in different conditions.

The dried seeds of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) were from Grenada. Hydrodistillation lasted 4 hours and was carried out by using Clevenger type apparatus, nutmeg and distilled water ratio was 1:20 in a round bottom flask. Magnesium aluminometasilicate (1% of water amount) was used as excipient in modified hydrodistillation. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH, Sigma Aldrich, USA). A total of 1 mL of ethanolic DPPH solution (0.1 mM) was placed in a spectrophotometer cuvette and 100µL of ethanolic essential oil solutions (5% and 10%) were added. All samples (pure essential oil, essential oil with excipient prepared by hydrodistillation, and a mix of these solutions in a ratio of 1:1) were incubated in the dark for 30 minutes and absorbance was measured at 515 nm (UV Spectrophotometer UV-1800 (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan)). The results are presented as mean ± SD.

Antioxidant activity of pure nutmeg essential oil was 53.85±0.10% and 72.14±0.63%. Essential oil's with excipient antioxidant activity was 6.43% and 5.53% lower than pure essential oil's (5% and 10% essential oil concentration, respectively). Antioxidant activity of 5% concentration of the essential oil mix was 1.21 and 1.29 times higher than that of pure essential oil and essential oil with excipient, respectively. Essential oil mix (10%) had an approximately 11.57±3.17% higher activity than the individual nutmeg essential oil solutions. The used mix of nutmeg essential oil solutions had a significantly higher antioxidant activity than the separate essential oils.

Figure 1
Fig. 1. Nutmeg essential oil antioxidant activity. a - p<0.05 versus pure essential oil, b - p<0.05 versus essential oil with excipient. *All samples' standard deviation of antioxidant activity is less than 0.78% and was not marked in the figure.

The excipient decreased the antioxidant activity of nutmeg essential oil but the mix of pure essential oil and essential oil with magnesium aluminometasilicate had a higher antioxidant activity than the separate essential oils. Two essential oil solutions work synergistically and the mixture's antioxidant activity is higher.

[1] Djilani, A.; Dicko, A. The Therapeutic Benefits of Essential Oils. Nutr. Well-Being Heal. 2012, No. February 2012. https://doi.org/10.5772/25344.

[2] Baser, K. H.; Bunchbauer, G. Handbook of Essential Oils: Science, Technology, and Applications; CRC Press NW, 2010.

[3] Muchtaridi; Subarnas, A.; Apriyantono, A.; Mustarichie, R. Identification of Compounds in the Essential Oil of Nutmeg Seeds (Myristica Fragrans Houtt.) That Inhibit Locomotor Activity in Mice. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2010, 11 (11), 4771-4781. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms11114771.

[4] Amorati, R.; Valgimigli, L. Methods to Measure the Antioxidant Activity of Phytochemicals and Plant Extracts. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2018, 66 (13), 3324-3329. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.8b01079.