Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Essential Oils: A Short Review

Miguel, Maria Graça

Due to its simplicity and sensitivity, some authors only use DPPH method for evaluating the antioxidant activities of essential oils. Recently, in our bibliographic research, some examples could be found [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] [73] [74] . Sometimes, the decision of only using this method can be attributed to the low antioxidant activity detected, therefore the authors consided it unnecessary to pursue other methods. One example is the case reported in [61] , in which the authors found low antioxidant activities of Commiphora ornifolia (Balf. f.) Gillett and Commiphora parvifolia Engl. oils even at high concentrations. According to these results along with the chemical composition of the oils, in which phenolic compounds were absent, the authors probably considered it unnecessary to use other methods. Another example is the oil of leaves of Olea europaea L. cv. Chemlali from Tunisia that also possesses low activity when compared to BHT [70] , because the main components were α-pinene and 2,6-dimethyloctane, that is, non-phenolic compounds.