Yield and In Vitro Antioxidant Potential of Essential Oil from Aerva javanica (Burm. f.) Juss. ex Schul. Flower with Special Emphasis on Seasonal Changes

Abstract

The essential oil (EO) of the desert cotton (Aerva javanica (Burm. f.) Juss. ex Schul.) was extracted by hydrodistillation, from A. javanica flowers growing in the sandy soils of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wild desert. The influence of seasonal variation on flowers’ EO yield was studied. The flowers’ EO yield obtained from spring samples (0.011%) was significantly the highest followed by early summer (0.009%), winter (0.007%), and autumn samples (0.006%), respectively. The flowers’ EO antioxidant analysis were tested by DPPH, FRAP and ABTS assays (in vitro). Results proved that A. javanica flowers’ EO, isolated during the four seasons, is a good source of natural bioactive antioxidants. Based on the three tested assays, the highest antioxidant activity was recorded in the spring. Testing of the chemical composition of the flowers’ EO was conducted for the season with the highest yield and the best antioxidant performance, recorded in spring, by a combination of gas chromatograph (GC) and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). This led to the identification of 29 volatile components, in which the flowers’ oil was characterized by angustione as a major compound. Photos by scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed prominent availability of star-shaped trichomes in the epidermis of the flowers.

Plant Essential Oil with Biological Activity

“…The results obtained explicated that the terpenoids are the main constituents of both plants, with a relative concentration of 93.59% and 97.66%, respectively, mainly including sesquiterpenes (93.40% and 81.06%) [ 11 ]. Another study conducted by Shahin et al [ 12 ] reported that the flowers’ EO extracted from Aerva javanica , isolated during four seasons, is considered a good source of natural bioactive antioxidants. Khalil et al [ 13 ] studied the chemical composition of EO isolated from Anisosciadium lanatum and evaluated its anti-cancer potential and mechanistic effect on HepG2 liver cancer cell lines.…”

Assessment of medicinal folklores and chemical composition of Aerva javanica (Burm. f.) Juss. ex Schult.) in Cholistan Desert of Pakistan

“…In Pakistan, it thrives well on calcareous and sandy soils of arid and semiarid rangelands. In English, it has different names like Aerva, Java Aerva, Kapok bush, Snow bush and Pillow bush (Ruffo et al2002;Shahin et al 2021). This perennial shrub grows to a medium height.…”

Phytochemical Analysis and Study of Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Two Parts of Cupressus arizonica Essential Oils

“…e studies reported by Bouksaim et al [27], Ismail et al [28], and Shahin et al [29] show a high yield from the cones compared to that from the leaves, which is in accordance with the results of our study. However, the difference in the EO yield in aromatic and medicinal plants can be explained by several parameters such as season [30], geographical origin [31], and the part of the treated plant [28].…”