Extraction, fatty acid profile, phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities of fixed oils from spices belonging to Apiaceae and Lamiaceae family

Fixed oil, the non-volatile fraction of oil from spices remains an unexplored entity. The study aimed to extract fixed oils from 13 Indian spices belonging to the Apiaceae and Lamiaceae family. Further fatty acid composition, antioxidant activities and phytochemical profile of the fixed oils was estimated. Among the studied spices, Ferula assa-foetida had the highest amount of fixed oil (19.93%). GC-MS profiling of the fixed oils showed palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and alpha-linolenic to be the major fatty acids. The study further identified fixed oils from Trachyspermum ammi L., Petroselinum crispum L., Ocimum basilicum L. and Rosmarinus officinalis L. to be major source of protocatecheuic, 4,hydroxybenzoic, trans-cinnamic, myristein and trans-ferulic acid. R. officinalis, O. basilicum and Thymus vulgaris L. fixed oils also showed highest radical scavenging property. T. vulgaris, Majorana hortensis Moench. and O. Basilicum fixed oils confirmed high amounts of alpha-, beta + gamma- and delta-tocopherol respectively. beta-sitosterol was found to be the dominating phytosterol in all fixed oils. Principal component analysis revealed existence of variation among spice fixed oils concerning to their fixed oil composition. The study thus identifies spice fixed oils as a rich source of lipid soluble bioactive compounds that are of tremendous industrial and pharmaceutical importance.