Essential Oils, Phenolics, and Antioxidant Activities of Different Parts of Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.)

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 2010-10, Vol.58 (19), p.10410-10418
• Main Authors: Bettaieb, Iness, Bourgou, Soumaya, Wannes, Wissem Aidi, Hamrouni, Ibtissem, Limam, Ferid, Marzouk, Brahim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: antioxidant activity; Antioxidants - analysis; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Aroma and flavouring agent industries; Bioactive Constituents; Biological and medical sciences; chelating agents; cumin; Cuminum - chemistry; Cuminum cyminum; essential oils; flavonoids; Flavonoids - analysis; flowers; Flowers - chemistry; Food industries; free radical scavengers; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gas chromatography; inhibitory concentration 50; leaves; lipid peroxidation; mass spectrometry; Oils, Volatile - analysis; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; phenolic compounds; Phenols - analysis; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Plant Roots - chemistry; Plant Stems - chemistry; qualitative analysis; quantitative analysis; reducing agents; reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography; roots; stems; tannins; Tannins - analysis
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf102248j

Cuminum cyminum L. roots, stems and leaves, and flowers were investigated for their essential oils, total phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins contents, individual phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activities. The essential oil was investigated by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography−mass spectrometry (GC−MS), whereas identification and quantification of individual target polyphenolic compounds was performed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Essential oil yields were 0.03% in roots, 0.1% in stem and leaves, and 1.7% in flowers. Major components of the oils were bornyl acetate (23%), α-terpinene (34%), and γ-terpinene (51%) in roots, stems and leaves, and flowers, respectively. In all C. cyminum organs, total phenolics content ranged from 11.8 to 19.2 mg of gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry weight (mg of GAE/g of DW). Among the polyphenols studied, 13 were identified in roots, 17 in stem and leaves, and 15 in flowers. The major phenolic compound in the roots was quercetin (26%), whereas in the stems and leaves, p-coumaric, rosmarinic, trans-2-dihydrocinnamic acids and resorcinol were predominant. In the flowers, vanillic acid was the main compound (51%). The antioxidant activities of C. cyminum essential oils and acetone extracts obtained from the three organs were assessed using four tests [1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), β-carotene/linoleic acid, reducing power, and chelating power assays]. The acetone extract of flowers was strongly effective as a DPPH radical scavenger, lipid peroxidation inhibitor, and reducing agent, with IC50 values of 4, 32, and 8 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the acetone extract of stems and leaves showed the highest chelating power. However, the essential oils exhibited moderate activities in the different tests.