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

Miguel, Maria Graça

The antioxidant measurement by DPPH and FRAP methods showed that the essential oil of Eugenia caryophyllus exhibited higher activity than the volatile aglycone fraction obtained after enzymatic hydrolysis with β-glucosidase from bitter almonds of the extract and further extraction from the aqueous layer with n-pentane [80] . In the DPPH method, the antioxidant activity of clove oil was higher than the volatile aglycone fraction, although both samples have high eugenol content. This lower activity could be attributed and according to the authors to the antagonism among other constituents present in small amounts in this fraction. The reducing capacity of the essential oil was also higher than that of the volatile aglycone fraction. Nevertheless in this assay the reference eugenol had weak ability, whereas in the DPPH method it possessed considerable activity. Such a difference could be explained by the different polarity for FRAP method compared with DPPH method. "Waterlike" solvents induce a dramatic decrease in the hydrogen atom-donating capability in comparison with ethyl alcohol used in DPPH method [80] .