Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of the chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of distillate and residue fractions of sweet basil essential oil

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Food Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, the chemical composition and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L. Lamiaceae family) were evaluated. Sweet basil is a food-related plant that is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Sweet basil crude oil was processed via molecular distillation and further characterized using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to screen for new compounds. The GC–MS analysis identified thirty-eight compounds. The major constituents of the residue fraction were estragole (17.06%), methyl eugenol (11.35%) and linoleic acid (11.40%), while the distillate fraction primarily contained methyl eugenol (16.96%), α-cadinol (16.24%) and α-bergamotene (11.92%). The antioxidant (DPPH and ABTS assays) and anti-inflammatory (in Raw264.7 cells) activities were evaluated. The residue fraction markedly scavenged the DPPH (IC50 = 1.092 ± 0.066 mg/mL) and ABTS (IC50 = 0.707 ± 0.042 mg/mL) radicals. Meanwhile, the distillate fraction distinctly suppressed the production of cytokines (TNF-α, IL-β, IL-6) and their gene expression in LPS-induced Raw264.7 cells and suppressed NO and iNOS in an in vitro model when compared with the crude oil. In conclusion, the fractions obtained from sweet basil crude oil showed different antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and they could be used as an effective source of natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents after molecular distillation. Thus, the properties of essential oils in natural herbal medicines may be maximized to provide a valuable therapeutic strategy for treating various disorders caused by extreme oxidative stress.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Antonisamy P, Arasu MV, Dhanasekaran M, Choi KC, Aravinthan A, Kim NS, Kang CW, Kim JH (2016) Protective effects of trigonelline against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats and potential underlying mechanisms. Food Funct 7:398–408

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arranz E, Jaime L, Hazas MC, Reglero G, Santoyo S (2015) Supercritical fluid extraction as an alternative process to obtain essential oils with anti-inflammatory properties from marjoram and sweet basil. Ind Crops Prod 67:121–129

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borgarello AV, Mezza GN, Pramparo MC, Gayol MF (2015) Thymol enrichment from oregano essential oil by molecular distillation. Sep Purif Technol 153:60–66

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chalchat J-C, Özcan MM (2008) Comparative essential oil composition of flowers, leavesand stems of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) used as herb. Food Chem 110:501–503

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dinarello CA (2010) Anti-inflammatory agents: present and future. Cell 140:935–950

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell TA, Cermak SC (2004) Purification of meadowfoam monoestolide from polyestolide. Ind Crops Prod 19:113–118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim EH, Shim B, Kang S, Jeong G, Lee J-s YuY-B, Chun M (2009) Anti-inflammatory effects of Scutellaria baicalensis exbitract via suppression of immune modulators and MAP kinase signaling molecules. J Ethnopharmacol 126:320–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laskin DL, Pendino KJ (1995) Macrophages and inflammatory mediators in tissue injury. Annu Rev Pharmacol 35:655–677

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SJ, Umano K, Shibamoto T, Lee KG (2005) Identification of volatile components in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and thyme leaves (Thymus vulgaris L.) and their antioxidant properties. Food Chem 91:131–137

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • López-Alarcón C, Denicola A (2013) Evaluating the antioxidant capacity of natural products: a review on chemical and cellular-based assays. Anal Chim Acta 763:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machale KW, Niranjan K, Pangarkar VG (1997) Recovery of dissolved essential oils from condensate waters of basil and Mentha arvensis distillation. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 69:362–366

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martins PF, Carmona C, Martinez EL, Sbaite P, Maciel Filho R, Wolf Maciel MR (2012) Short path evaporation for methyl chavicol enrichment from basil essential oil. Sep Purif Technol 87:71–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maulik N, McFadden D, Otani H, Thirunavukkarasu M, Parinandi NL (2013) Antioxidants in longevity and medicine. Oxid Med Cell Longev. doi:10.1155/2013/820679

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Macias H, Romieu I (2014) Effects of antioxidant supplements and nutrients on patients with asthma and allergies. J Allergy Clin Immun 133:1237–1244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Özcan M, Chalchat JC (2002) Essential oil composition of Ocimum basilicum L. and Ocimum minimum L. in Turkey Czech. J Food Sci 20:223–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Persson T, Popescu BO, Cedazo-Minguez A (2014) Oxidative stress in Alzheimer’s disease: why did antioxidant therapy fail? Oxid Med Cell Longev 2014:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pisoschi AM, Pop A (2015) The role of antioxidants in the chemistry of oxidative stress: a review. Eur J Med Chem 97:55–74

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues LB, Martins AOBPB, Cesário FRAS, Castro FF, Albuquerque TR, Fernandes MNM, Barbosa R (2016) Anti-inflammatory and antiedematogenic activity of the Ocimum basilicum essential oil and its main compound estragole: in vivo mouse models. Chem Biol Interact 257:14–25

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Solaesa ÁG, Sanz MT, Falkeborg M, Beltrán S, Guo Z (2016) Production and concentration of monoacylglycerols rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids by enzymatic glycerolysis and molecular distillation. Food Chem 190:960–967

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Toda S (2011) Polyphenol content and antioxidant effects in herb teas. Chin Med 02:29–31

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Valenzuela BA, Sanhueza J, Nieto S (2003) Natural antioxidants in functional foods: from food safety to health benefits. Grasas Aceites 54:295–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Li X, Zhang F, Cai Q, Wang Y, Luo Z (2013) Bio-oil catalytic reforming without steam addition: application to hydrogen production and studies on its mechanism. Int J Hydrog Energy 38:16038–16047

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Cai Q, Wang X, Zhang L, Wang Y, Luo Z (2014) Biogasoline production from the co-cracking of the distilled fraction of bio-oil and ethanol. Energy Fuel 28:115–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Wang S, Leng F, Chen J, Zhu L, Luo Z (2015) Separation and characterization of pyrolytic lignins from the residue fraction of bio-oil by molecular distillation. Sep Purif Technol 152:123–132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yoon WJ, Ham YM, Lee WJ, Lee NH, Hyun CG (2010) Brown alga Sargassum muticum inhibits proinflammatory cytokines, iNOS, and COX-2 expression in macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Turk J Biol 34:25–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu XM, Zhu P, Zhong QP, Li MY, Ma HR (2015) Subcritical water extraction of antioxidant phenolic compounds from XiLan olive fruit dreg. J Food Sci Technol 52:5012–5020

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng L, Liu M, Zhai GY, Ma Z, Wang LQ, Jia L (2015) Antioxidant and anti-ageing activities of mycelia zinc polysaccharide from Pholiota nameko SW-03. J Sci Food Agric 95:3117–3126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Lutterodt H, Cheng Z, Yu L (2009) Anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activities of trifolirhizin, a Flavonoid from Sophora flavescens roots. J Agric Food Chem 57:4580–4585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou D, Wang D, Yang L, Liu Z, Zhang Y (2016) A Modified and improved assay based on microbial test system (MTS) to evaluate antioxidant activity. Food Anal Methods 9:895–904

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Science Foundation of Hainan Province (No. 20168269), and the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81573391) and the National Key Projects of China (No. 81227802).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Hailong Li and Yanhui Ge have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical College, Haikou, 571199, China

    Hailong Li, Xuguang Zhang & Junqing Zhang

  2. School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Yanhui Ge, Zhimin Luo, Yulan Zhou & Qiang Fu

  3. Hainan Provincial Key Lab of R&D of Tropical Herbs, Haikou, 517799, China

    Hailong Li & Xuguang Zhang

Authors
  1. Hailong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yanhui Ge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhimin Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yulan Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Xuguang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Junqing Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Qiang Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Junqing Zhang or Qiang Fu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 107 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, H., Ge, Y., Luo, Z. et al. Evaluation of the chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of distillate and residue fractions of sweet basil essential oil. J Food Sci Technol 54, 1882–1890 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2620-x

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2620-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation