Volatile chemical composition and antioxidant potential of essential oils isolated from leaves, twigs and roots of Allophylus spicatus (Radlk)

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been utilised to treat illnesses and maintain good health. Traditionally, Allophylus spicatus Radlk (Sapindaceae) has been used to treat wounds, diarrhoea, cough, colds, dysentery, and various heart conditions. It has strong ethnopharmacological applications. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) was used to analyse the essential oils (EOs), which were isolated via hydro-distillation. The 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method was used to assess the antioxidant activities. The essential oils isolated from the leaves, twigs, and roots contained 30, 32, and 21 compounds overall, accounting for 89.5%, 95.8%, and 82.5% of the total compositions, respectively. β-elemene was the major constituent of volatile phytochemicals found in leaves, twigs, and roots, with percentage compositions of 15.2%, 20.5%, and 14.8%, respectively. Compared to α-tocopherol (0.546 mg/mL), a well-known antioxidant utilised as one of the standards at concentrations between 1.0 and 0.0625 mg/mL, the EOs demonstrated greater free radical scavenging activities (IC50 = 0.4746 mg/mL, 0.4172 mg/mL, and 0.4156 mg/mL). EOs from leaves, twigs and roots of A. spicatus and antioxidant activities is studied for the first time.