Chemical constituents, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oil from stem of Napoleonaea vogeli

Abstract

Background:  Napoleonaea vogelii is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of pains and inflammatory disorders but little is known about its other pharmacological activities. This study aimed at investigating the chemical constituents as well as antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil from the stem of plant.

Methods: Stem of Napoleonaea vogelii was subjected to soxhlet extraction method, for the extraction of its essential oil. The Essential oil extracted was analyzed using GCMS technique and screened for antioxidant activities using DPPH radical scavenging method; and   antimicrobial activities using Agar Well Diffusion Method on different clinical isolates of bacterial and fungal strains.

Results: Stigmasterol (7.68%), 9,12- octadecanoic acid (7.63%), tetradecanoic acid (5.62%) were the major constituents while phytol (0.62%), squalene (0.74%), eicosane (0.14%) were the minor constituents of the essential oil. The antioxidant evaluation of the essential oil revealed that at 100 µg/ml, the radical scavenging activity of 79.36 % was significant and comparable to that of the standard ascorbic acid. The IC₅₀ value was also significant and at a moderate value of 35.56 µg/ml. At 25 to 50 µg/ml, the % radical scavenging activity was also comparable to the ascorbic acid values.  At concentrations of 50 to100 mg/ml, the essential oil was active against all bacteria and fungi except Aspergillus Niger. 

Conclusion: This study revealed that Napoleonaea vogelii could be good source of bioactive compounds with antimicrobial and antioxidant activities which may also justify the use of the plant in the treatment of ailments in traditional medicine.