Antioxidant Activity and Volatile and Phenolic Profiles of Essential Oil and Different Extracts of Wild Mint (Mentha longifolia) from the Pakistani Flora

Abstract

The antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging capacity of the essential oil and three different extracts of wildly grown Mentha longifolia (M. longifolia) were studied. The essential oil from M. longifolia aerial parts was isolated by hydrodistillation technique using Clevenger-type apparatus. The extracts were prepared with three solvents of different polarity (n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol) using Soxhlet extractor. Maximum extract yield was obtained with methanol (12.6 g/100 g) while the minimum with dichloromethane (3.50 g/100 g). The essential oil content was found to be 1.07 g/100 g. A total of 19 constituents were identified in the M. longifolia oil using GC/MS. The main components detected were piperitenone oxide, piperitenone, germacrene D, borneol, and β-caryophyllene. The total phenolics (TP) and total flavonoids (TF) contents of the methanol extract of M. longifolia were found to be significantly higher than dichloromethane and hexane extracts. The dichloromethane and methanol extracts exhibited excellent antioxidant activity as assessed by 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging ability, bleaching β-carotene, and inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation assays. The essential oil and hexane extract showed comparatively weaker antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities. The results of the study have validated the medicinal and antioxidant potential of M. longifolia essential oil and extracts.

Volatiles and seasonal variation of the essential oil composition from the leaves of Clinopodium macrostemum var. laevigatum and its biological activities

“…Nonetheless, essential oils containing high amounts of piperitone oxide seem to produce similar antioxidant effects on DPPH and ␤-carotene bleaching than those of the essential oil from C. macrostemum var. laevigatum (Iqbal et al, 2013). According to the antioxidant screening of the seasonal essential oils, the summer and spring samples showed higher activity than those of winter and fall.…”

Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi and its Main Essential Oil Constituent Pulegone: Biological Activities and Chemistry

“…Recently, they have sparked interests as sources of natural products, and have been screened for their potential uses as alternative remedies for the treatment of many infectious diseases and the preservation food from either toxic effects of oxidants or from bacteria and fungi. Research on plants from different regions has led to innovative EOs uses [ 31 ]. Particularly, the antimicrobial activities of plant oils and extracts have formed the basis of many applications, including raw and processed food preservation, pharmaceuticals, alternative medicine and natural therapies [ 32 ].…”

Mentha longifolia protects against acetic-acid induced colitis in rats

“…The plant is rich in volatile oil which contains mainly menthone, pulegone, eucalyptol, and piperitone (Ibrahim et al, in Press;Oyedeji and Afolayan, 2006). The essential oil of ML showed decongestant, antispasmodic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities (Hutchings and van Staden, 1994;Iqbal et al, 2013). Pulegone, the major monoterpenoid constituent of the ML oil, is a strong hepatotoxic agent (Raza et al, 2015), while eucalyptol (1,8-cineole), the second monoterpenoid component is safely included in many brands used as mouthwashes and cough therapies (NIH, 2016).…”