Antioxidant Activity of Several Essential Oils from Different Rosmarinus officinalis Cultivars Grown in Sanremo (Italy)

Abstract

The evaluation of the essential oil (EO) profile of several cultivars of Rosmarinus officinalis, usually not used for food, and the assessment of their antioxidant activity as potential sources of natural antioxidants were studied in this work. Five different cultivars of Rosmarinus officinalis: R. officinalis 'Alba'; R. officinalis 'Blue Rain'; R. officinalis 'Corsican Blue'; R. officinalis 'Israeli'; R. officinalis 'Majorca Pink' and one hybrid of rosemary, Rosmarinus x lavandulaceus Noë, cultivated at CREA Sanremo (Italy), were hydrodistilled separately and the obtained EOs were analysed by GC-MS. Monoterpenes predominated in all the EO profiles but oxygenated monoterpenes were the most abundant constituents in R. officinalis 'Blue Rain', R. officinalis 'Corsican Blue', R. officinalis 'Israeli' and R. officinalis 'Majorca Pink'. R. x lavandulaceus Noë and R. officinalis 'Alba' showed percentages of monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes very similar. -pinene, camphene, 1,8-cineole, camphor, borneol, verbenone, isobornyl acetate and caryophyllene were the main constituents present in all the plant cultivars, even though in different percentages. Myrcene predominate in R. officinalis 'Alba' (30.3 %), 1,8 cineol in R. officinalis 'Blue Rain' and R. officinalis 'Israeli' (21.9% and 26.4%, respectively), while camphor was the main constituent in R. officinalis 'Majorca Pink' (42.5%) and in R. x lavandulaceus (24.2%). R. officinalis 'Corsican Blue' showed similar amount of the three main components, verbenone , camphor and isobornyl acetate (18.5% >18.2% >15.4%, respectively). All the EOs were also tested for their antioxidant activity using the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) method and the stable radical DPPH. R. x lavandulaceus Noë showed the highest antioxidant activity, two folds more than that observed in R. officinalis 'Israeli'.

Bioactive Natural Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils from Spice Plants: New Findings and Potential Applications

“…In the United States and Europe, rosemary is the only spice commercially available for use as an antioxidant. Products based on rosemary are marketed in an oil-soluble form, in dry powder, and in water-dispersible or water-miscible formulations [ 178 ]. Rosemary extract was approved as a safe natural antioxidant for food preservation in the European Union [ 174 , 179 ].…”

“…Several studies demonstrated the antioxidant, antibacterial, and antileishmanial activities of rosemary EO [ 48 , 189 , 190 ]. Pistelli et al [ 178 ] evaluated the antioxidant activity of EOs obtained from five different R. officinalis cultivars: R. officinalis ‘Alba’; R. officinalis ‘Corsican Blue’; R. officinalis ‘Israeli’; R. officinalis ‘Blue Rain’; R. officinalis ‘Majorca Pink’, and Rosmarinus x lavandulaceus Noë (a hybrid of rosemary) using FRAP and DPPH assays. The hybrid showed the highest antioxidant activity regardless of the method applied.…”

Seasonal Variation of Essential Oil in Rosmarinus officinalis Leaves in Sardinia

“…Nomenclature of volatile compounds (variables): α-pinene, V1; camphene, V2; α-pinene, V3; α-phellandrene, V5; Δ3-carene, V6; α-terpinene, V7; 1,8-cineole, V8; γ-terpinene, V9; trans-sabinene hydrate, V10, α-terpinolene, V11; linalool, V12; campholenal, V13; trans-pinocarveol, V15; borneol, V16; terpinen-4-ol, V17; α-terpineol, V18; verbenone, V19; iso-borneol, V20; cis-carveol, V21; bornyl acetate, V23; α-citronellol, V24. Samples are listed according to the code reported in Table 1 (RPC, RCC, and RMD1, 2, and 3) and the months of collections (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12).…”

“…GLM was run to evaluate the effect of the variables. Samples are listed according to the code reported in Table 1 (RPC, RCC, and RMD1, 2, and 3) and the months of collections (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12).…”

“…1 The interest on this species is associated with the multiple uses of the plant: as aromatic plant, it is well appreciated for the culinary quality of its leaves; as shrub, it is useful as ornamental plant in garden; finally, the high production of phenol biological compounds and EOs made rosemary the most used medicinal and aromatic plant worldwide. 2 Antibacterial, [3][4][5] antifungal, 6,7 anticancer, 8,9 and antioxidant [10][11][12][13] proprieties have been found in the EO extracted from its leaves. The production of secondary metabolites is affected, as in many other plants, 14 by environmental conditions; in literature are reported examples of the variability of both polar fraction 15 and volatile organic compounds.…”