Chemical compositions and antioxidant activity of Heracleum persicum essential oil

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s2175-97902017000300260 Chemical compositions and antioxidant activity of Heracleum persicum essential oil Maryam Gharachorloo1*, Masoud Honarvar1, Shima Mardani2 Department of Food Science and Technology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 1 In this study essential oil of the aerial parts of Heracleum persicum a spice widely used in Iran was isolated by conventional hydrodistillation (HD) and microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) techniques. The extraction yield was determined and the chemical compositions of essential oils were identified by the application of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The antioxidant activity was determined by two different methods: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and oven test methods. Although the main compounds of essential oils by the both extraction methods were similar, the essential oil extracted by HD with lower extraction efficiency showed more diverse compounds. The evaluation of antioxidant activity of the essential oil measured by delay in sunflower oil oxidation indicated that the antioxidant activity was dependent on the concentration which increased when higher concentrations of the essential oils were applied. The results of DPPH radical assay also indicated that the percentage of inhibition increased with increasing of essential oil concentration and IC50 value for essential oil extracted by MAHD method was obtained 1.25 mg/mL. Therefore the Heracleum persicum essential oil might be recommended for use as a flavoring agent and a source of natural antioxidants in functional foods, formulation of the supplements and in medicinal due to numerous pharmacological activities. Keywords: Heracleum persicum/essential oil/chemical composition. Heracleum persicum/functional properties. Heracleum persicum/antioxidant activity. INTRODUCTION Heracleum persicum is a flowering plant and native to Iran that commonly known as “Golpar”. It belongs to Apiaceae family in the order of Apiales that contains about 300 genera and more than 3000 species. Heracleum species probably originates from the Middle East, somewhere south of Caucasian, but has spread as an ornamental plant up to Northern Europe. Heracleum genus has 10 species in Iran (Asgarpanah et al., 2012). The ripe fruits, leaves and young stems of Heracleum persicum are used as antiseptic, carminative, digestive and analgesia as well as flavoring in the Iranian folk medicine (Torbati et al., 2014). Also it has recently been shown to have antioxidant, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory and immunemodulatory activities (Asgarpanah et al., 2012). *Correspondence: M. Gharachorloo. Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Science and Reserch Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hesarak, Ashrafi Esfahani, Postal code: 1477893855 - Poonak, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: Braz. J. Pharm. Sci. 2017;53(3):e00260 Among different methods for extraction of essential oils from spices, hydrodistillation is the common and most frequently used method (Morsy, 2015). However, in order to reduce the extraction time, the operation costs, possibly improve the yield and the quality of the essential oils, new approaches such as microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction have also been in consideration (Memarzadeh, Ghasemi Pirbalouti, Adibnejad, 2015). In this regards some advances in using microwave have resulted in a number of techniques such as microwave steam diffusion (Farhat et al., 2011), microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity (Vian et al., 2008), microwave dry distillation (Tigrine Korjani, Meklati, Chemat, 2006) and solvent free microwave extraction (Lucchesi et al., 2007). Some recently studies (Golmakani, Rezaei, 2008; Perino Issartier et al., 2013; Stashenko, Jaramillo, Martinez, 2004; Tigrine Kordjani, Meklati, Chemat, 2006) have successfully utilized a microwave oven for the extraction of active components from medicinal plants. Page 1 / 6 Article Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences M. Gharachorloo, M. Honarvar, S. Mardani Therefore the aim of this research was the comparison of the chemical compositions and antioxidant activity of Heracleum persicum essential oil extracted by conventional hydrodistillation (HD) and microwaveassisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS Material Dried aerial parts of Heracleum persicum a spice widely used in Iran were supplied from Tehran market. The identity of the Heracleum was certificated by top experts from Herbarium of the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch. Aerial parts of Heracleum persicum were ground in a mill (Triplex, France), passed through a sieve of 0.5 mm mesh and the powder obtained was stored in plastic bags, in darkness at 4 °C. Refined sunflower seed oil without added synthetic antioxidant was purchased from Behshahr Oil Company of Tehran. All the chemicals used were of analytical grade, purchased from Merck Chemical Company of Germany. Isolation of essential oil Hydrodistillation Powder of aerial parts of Heracleum persicum were hydrodistillated for 3 h using a Clevenger-type apparatus according to the standard procedure. The essential oil volume was measured directly in the extraction burette. The obtained essential oils were dried with anhydrous sodium sulphate and then stored in a sealed dark vials at 4°C until further analysis. Yield percentage was calculated as volume (mL) of essential oil per 100 g of plant dry matter (Jordán et al., 2009). Microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) A domestic microwave oven (micro SYNTH, 2450 MHz) was modified for MAHD operation. The interior cavity of the microwave oven was 29 × 37 × 40 cm. Flat bottom flask having a capacity of 500 mL was placed inside the cavity for the MAHD experiments. 20gr of powdered samples soaked in 100 mL of distilled water for 30 minutes were placed in a 500 mL flask. The flask was setup within the microwave oven cavity and a condenser was used on the top, outside the oven. The microwave oven was operated at 600 power level for a period of 30 min which no more essential oil was obtained. The extracted essential oils were collected, dehydrated with anhydrous sodium sulfate and kept in a sealed dark vials at 4 °C (Karakaya et al., 2014). Page 2 / 6 Chemical composition of essential oils The chemical compositions of essential oils obtained from aerial parts of Heracleum persicum by using hydrodistillation and microwave-assisted hydrodistillation methods were identified by the application of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Samples were analyzed by using an Agilent Hp-6890 gas chromatograph (Agilent Technologies, USA) with a Hp-1 Methyl silicone capillary column (60 m×0.32 mm×0.25 µm film thickness) linked to Hp-5973 mass spectrometry detector. Oven temperature w (...truncated)