Antimicrobial, anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities of aqueous aromatic extracts from forty-eight selected herbs

In the essential oil extraction process of herbs, the aqueous part of distillate was often been treated as waste. Thus, discovery of potentialities of the aqueous part of herbs will aid us to realize further applications of this byproduct. In this study, we examine the antimicrobial activity, anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities of 48 selected herbs which are suitable to be planted in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Results shown that only 5 herbs such as Canarium album and Cinnamomum japonicum have antimicrobial activities on Propionibacterium acne, Staphylococcus epidermidis or Malassezia furfur. In addition, Cinnamomum japonicum had shown the highest activity up to 83% for the inhibition of dopachrome formation. Moreover, numerous herbs exhibited the potent antioxidant activities, including Ocimum gratissimum, Canarium album, Melaleuca alternifolia and Origanum majorana. Therefore, these results of this study may help us to recognize the potentialities of these herbal aqueous aromatic extracts in future.