Abstract
This study investigated the biological activities of essential oil from sweet basil leaves via its effect on α-amylase, α-glucosidase and angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) activities, inhibition of Fe2+ and sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced lipid peroxidation in rats’ pancreas and heart homogenates. The phytoconstituents of the oil were analysed using gas chromatography (GC). The essential oil exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of α-amylase (IC50 = 3.21 mg/mL), α-glucosidase (IC50 = 3.06 mg/mL) and ACE (IC50 = 0.89 mg/mL) activities in vitro. The oil also inhibited both Fe2+- and SNP-induced lipid peroxidation in rats’ pancreas and heart. The GC analysis revealed the presence of about 28 phytoconstituents, with limonene (47.40 %), borneol (8.66 %), geranial (6.93 %), neral (5.71 %), myrcene (4.68 %), β-caryophyllene (4.68 %), α-terpineol (4.60 %), 1,8-cineole (4.17 %), linalool (3.53 %), β-elemene (3.05 %), germacrene D (2.68 %), and terpinen-4-ol (2.21 %) being the most prominent. Thus, the antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory effects of the essential oil could be attributed to the presence of these phytochemicals, which could be the principle responsible for the antidiabetic and antihypertensive properties of the essential oil. This study therefore, could provide the possible rationale for the application of essential oil from sweet basil leaves as functional foods and nutraceutical ingredient in the management of type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aazza S, Lyoussi B, Miguel MG (2001) Antioxidant and antiacetylcholinesterase activities of some commercial essential oils and their major compounds. Molecules 16:7672–7690
Abad MJ, Bedoya LM, Apaza L, Bermejo P (2012) The Artemisia L. genus: a review of bioactive essential oils. Molecules 17:2542–2566
Apostolidis E, Kwon YI, Shetty K (2007) Inhibitory potential of herb, fruit, and fungal-enriched cheese against key enzymes linked to type-2 diabetes and hypertension. Inn Food Sci Emerging Technol 8:46–54
Aryangat AV, Gerich EJ (2010) Type 2 diabetes: postprandial hyperglycemia and increased cardiovascular risk. Vasc Health Risk Manag 6:145–155
Basak SS, Candan F (2010) Chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh essential oil. J Iran Chem Soc 7:216–226
Bates JN, Baker MT, Guerra R, Harrison DG (1991) Nitric oxide generation from sodium nitroprusside by vascular tissue: evidence that reductions of the nitroprusside anion and cyanide loss are required. Biochem Pharmacol 42:157–165
Belle NAV, Dalmolin GD, Fonini G, Rubim MA, Rocha JBT (2004) Polyamines reduce lipid peroxidation induced by different pro-oxidant agents. Brain Res 1008:245–251
Bereketoglu C, Kasap M, Pazarbas A (2012) Studies on angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism and genotype distributions in Turkish preeclampsia patients. J Pregnancy 2012:108206
Boukhris M, Bouaziz M, Feki I, Jemai H, El-Feki A, Sayadi S (2012) Hypoglycemic and antioxidant effects of leaf essential oil of Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Lipids Health Dis 11:81
Chu KY, Leung PS (2009) Angiotensin-II in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Curr Protein Peptide Sci 10:75–84
Conforti F, Statti GA, Loizzo MR, Sacchetti G, Poli F, Menichini F (2005) In vitro antioxidant effects and inhibition of α-amylase of two varieties of Amaranthus caudatus seeds. Biol Pharm Bull 28:1098–1102
Cushman DW, Cheung HS (1971) Spectrophotometric assay and properties of the angiotensin-converting enzyme of rabbit lung. Biochem Pharmacol 20:1637–1648
European Pharmacopoeia (1997) Strasbourg Third ed Council of Europe, pp 121-122
Golbidi S, Ebadi SA, Laher I (2011) Antioxidants in the treatment of diabetes. Curr Diabetes Rev 7:106–125
Hajji M, Masmoudi O, Souissi N, Triki Y, Kammoun S, Nasri M (2010) Chemical composition, angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil from Periploca laevigata root barks. Food Chem 121:724–731
Halliwell B, Gutteridge JMC (1981) Formation of thiobarbituric acid- reactive substance from deoxyribose in the presence of iron salts: the role of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals. FEBS Lett 128:347–352
Kelen M, Tepe B (2008) Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the essential oils of three Salvia species from Turkish flora. Bioresource Technol 99:4096–4104
Kumar S, Narwal S, Kumar V, Prakash O (2011) α-Glucosidase inhibitors from plants: A natural approach to treat diabetes. Pharmacogn Rev 5:19–29
Lee SJ, Umano K, Shibamoto T, Lee KG (2005) Identification of volatile components in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and thyme leaves (Thymus vulgaris L.) and their antioxidant properties. Food Chem 91:131–137
Lindsay RC (1996) Food additive. In: Fennema OR (ed) Food Chemistry. Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, pp 778–780
Loizzo MR, Said A, Tundis R, Rashed K, Statti GA, Hufner A, Menichini F (2007) Inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) by flavonoids isolated from Ailanthus excelsa (Roxb)(Simaroubaceae). Phytother Res 21:32–36
Loughrin JH, Kasperbauer MJ (2001) Light reflected from colored mulches affects aroma and phenolic content of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) leaves. J Agric Food Chem 49:1331–1335
Mahajan N, Rawal S, Verma M, Poddar M, Alok S (2013) A phytopharmacological overview on Ocimum species with special emphasis on Ocimum sanctum. Biomed Prev Nutr 3:185–192
Mansour MB, Balti R, Rabaoui L, Bougatef A, Guerfel M (2013) Chemical composition, angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil from south Tunisian Ajuga pseudoiva Rob. Lamiaceae. Process Biochem 48:723–729
Minotti G, Aust SD (1987) An investigation into the mechanism of citrate-Fe2+ dependent lipid peroxidation. Free Radic Biol Med 3:379–387
Murali R, Karthikeyan A, Saravanan R (2013) Protective effects of d-limonene on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol 112:175–181
Oboh G (2006) Antioxidant properties of some commonly consumed and underutilized tropical legumes. European Food Res Technol 224:61–65
Oboh G, Akinyemi AJ, Ademiluyi AO (2013) Inhibitory effect of phenolic extract from garlic on angiotensin-1 converting enzyme and cisplatin induced lipid peroxidation - In vitro. Int J Biomed Sci 9:98–106
Oboh G, Olasehinde AT, Ademosun OA (2014) Essential oil from Lemon peels inhibits key enzymes linked to Neurodegenerative conditions and Pro-oxidant induced lipid peroxidation. J Oleo Sci 63:373–381
Oboh G, Puntel RL, Rocha JBT (2007) Hot pepper (Capsicum annuum, Tepin and Capsicum chinese, Habanero) prevents Fe2+- induced lipid peroxidation in brain–in vitro. Food Chem 102:178–185
Ohkawa H, Ohishi N, Yagi K (1979) Assay for lipid peroxides in animal tissues by thiobarbituric acid reaction. Anal Biochem 95:351–358
Oyaizu M (1986) Studies on products of browning reaction-antioxidative activity of products of browning reaction prepared from glucosamine. Jpn J Nutr 44:307–315
Puntel RL, Nogueira CW, Rocha JBT (2005) Krebs cycle intermediates modulate thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) production in rat brain in-vitro. Neurochem Res 30:225–235
Rao AP, Jamil K (2011) Pharmacological evaluation of herbal extracts for their in vitro hypoglycaemic activity. Int J Pharm Bio Sci 3:15–21
Ramadan MF (1997) Nutritional value, functional properties and nutraceutical applications of black cumin (Nigella sativaL.): an overview. Int J Food Sci Technol 42:1208–1218
Re R, Pellegrini N, Proteggente A, Pannala A, Yang M, Rice-Evans C (1999) Antioxidant activity applying an improved ABTS radical cation decolorisation assay. Free Radic Biol Med 26:1231–1237
Ripsin CM, Kang H, Urban RJ (2009) Management of blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Am Fam Physician 79:29–36
Srivastava A, Harish SR, Shivanandappa T (2006) Antioxidant activity of the roots of Decalepis hamiltonii (Wight & Arn). LWT–Food Sci Technol 39:1059–1065
Sultan MT, Butt MS, Karim R, Iqbal SZ, Ahmad S, Zia-Ul-Haq M, Aliberti L, Ahmad AN, De Feo V (2014) Effect of Nigella sativa fixed and essential oils on antioxidant status, hepatic enzymes, and immunity in streptozotocin induced diabetes mellitus. BMC Complement Altern Med 14:193
Tahrani AA, Piya MK, Kennedy A, Barnett AH (2010) Glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes: Targets and new therapies. Pharmacol Ther 125:328–361
Talpur N, Echard B, Ingram C, Bagchi D, Preuss H (2005) Effects of a novel formulation of essential oils on glucose-insulin metabolism in diabetic and hypertensive rats: a pilot study. Diabetes Obes Metab 7:193–199
Worthington V (1993) Alpha amylase. In: Worthington K, Worthington V (eds) Worthington enzyme manual. Worthington Biochemical Corp, Freehold NJ, pp 36–41
Yuan YV, Bone DE, Carrington MF (2005) Antioxidant activity of dulse (Palmaria palmata) extract evaluated in vitro. Food Chem 91:485–494
Zago MP, Verstraeten SV, Oteiza PI (2000) Zinc in the prevention of Fe2+ -initiated lipid and protein oxidation. Biol Res 33:143–150
Zeggwagh NA, Sulpice T, Eddouks M (2007) Anti-hyperglycaemic and hypolipidemic effects of Ocimum basilicum aqueous extract in diabetic rats. Am J Pharmacol Toxicol 2:123–129
Zouaria N, Fakhfakh N, Zouaria S, Bougatef A, Karray A, Neffati M, Ayadi MA (2011) Chemical composition, angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oil of Tunisian Thymus algeriensis Boiss. et Reut (Lamiaceae). Food bioprod Process 89:257–265
Conflict of interest
The authors declared no conflict regarding this paper
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ademiluyi, A.O., Oyeleye, S.I. & Oboh, G. Biological activities, antioxidant properties and phytoconstituents of essential oil from sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) leaves. Comp Clin Pathol 25, 169–176 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-015-2163-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-015-2163-3