Extraction, Chemical Composition Analysis and Antioxidant Capacity of Essential Oil from Fresh Leaves of Lantana camara

Abstract

Conventional hydrodistillation yielded 13.38% of the oil extract. The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed 76 components in the oil extract from the leaves of Lantana camara. The identified compounds represent 99.4% of the total oil extracted. The predominant components of the analyzed oil are 1,6-Cyclodecadiene, 1-methyl-5-methylene-8-(1-methylethyl) (2.7%), 3Z-Hexenol (5.4%), Caryophyllene oxide (5%), (-)-Aristolene (2.3%), 12-Oxabicyclododeca-3,7-diene, 1,5,5,8-tetramethyl (3.7%), 1,6-Cyclodecadiene, Linalool (2.6%), and 2-ethoxy-2-methylpropane (2.8%), with α-Humulene (13.5%) and (E)-Caryophyllene (20.6%) being the two major components.

The total phenolic content of the oil extract is 2.029 ± 0.030 mg GAE/g, and the total antioxidant capacity is 1.255 ± 0.123 mg AAE/g. The percentage 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) Radical Scavenging Activity was estimated to be 24.41%, with an IC₅₀ value of 153.01µg/ml.

These results indicate that the extracted essential oil showed appreciable antioxidant capacity and (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, which could be attributed to the chemical composition of the oil.