Essential oil of the leaves of psychotria asiatica L.: chemical composition, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic properties

This study is focused on investigating the chemical composition and bioactive properties of the essential oil extracted from Psychotria asiatica L., a plant species known for its medicinal properties. Utilising gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, the essential oil from P. asiatica was found to contain 53 distinct constituents. Major compounds identified include (E)-citral (20.6%), 10-epi-gamma-eudesmol (15.9%), (Z)-citral (10.5%), geraniol (7.4%), alpha-cadinol (6.7%), 7-epi-alpha-eudesmol (4.4%), linalool (3.7%), and alpha-muurolol (3.4%). The essential oil did not exhibit antioxidant activity, as indicated by an IC50 value of > 100 mu g/mL, whereas the positive control L-Ascorbic acid had an IC50 of 7.37 +/- 0.27 mu g/mL in the DPPH model. Assessment of its anti-inflammatory potential revealed an inhibitory effect on NO production, with an IC50 value of 29.08 +/- 1.54 mu g/mL in Lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Furthermore, the essential oil demonstrated significant cytotoxicity against the SK-LU-1 cancer cell line, with an IC50 value of 39.75 +/- 1.79 mu g/mL according to the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. [GRAPHICS] .