Effect of extraction method on chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of essential oil from the leaves of Algerian Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Masters

Two extraction methods, microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) and conventional hydrodistillation (HD), were used to extract the volatile compounds from the leaves of Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Masters, which were subsequently analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The results of both oils were compared in terms of extraction time, extraction yield/efficiency, chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. MAHD is more advantageous than HD in terms of energy savings and extraction time (90 min vs. 180 min for MAHD vs. HD), extraction yield (0.54% vs. 0.56% for MAHD vs. HD). There were significant differences between the quantities of the main abundant compounds. The oil of MAHD was characterized by a higher amounts of oxygenated compounds, while, the oil of HD was characterized by a higher amounts of hydrocarbons compounds. It was found that the essential oil of MAHD exhibited higher antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities than the essential oil of HD. These results suggest that these oils might be a valuable source of bioactive compounds, and would seem to be applicable in both the health and food, feasible alternatives as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents. Significantly lower energy consumption with MAHD renders this technology being more environmentally friendly than HD. Compared to many solvent extraction techniques such as Soxhlet and accelerated solvent extraction, MAHD is modern, green and fast. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.