title: Comparative chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant activities of essential oil isolated from the leaves of Cinnamomum tamala and Pimenta dioica.
abstract: Cinnamomum tamala Nees and Eberm (tejpat) and Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr (pimento) leaves are commonly used for flavouring food and widely used in pharmaceutical preparations because of their hypoglycemic, carminative and stimulant properties. In this study, we compared the chemical composition and antioxidant activities of tejpat and pimento essential oils by employing various in vitro methods. GC and GC-MS analyses were done to find out the chemical composition, and the main constituent identified in tejpat and pimento leaf oils was eugenol. Both the oils showed significant radical scavenging activity against DPPH and superoxide radicals with a potent metal chelating activity and were compared with that of standard compound, eugenol. Among the two oils, tejpat oil showed better activity in terms of antioxidative potential.
authors.affiliation: Agro Processing and Natural Products Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), CSIR, Thiruvananthapuram 695 019, Kerala, India. kppad@yahoo.co.in
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Padmakumari Amma
authors.forename: M Priya
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Rani
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sasidharan
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sreekumar
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry*; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D027424:Cinnamomum / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry*; D010851:Picrates / Q000737:chemistry; D027841:Pimenta / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010851:Picrates; C004931:1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl