Antioxidant potential of five essential oils from kutukÚ biological station

© 2019, SILAE (Italo-Latin American Society of Ethnomedicine). All rights reserved. The present investigation evaluated the antioxidant potential of five essential oils from medicinal plants found in the Kutukú Biological Station of the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, which is located in the western part of the Kutukú mountain range. The essential oils were extracted from the leaves of the following species: Eugenia stipitata, Ocotea quixos, Psidium guajava, Piper auritum, Piper imperiale. The results of electron scavenging capacity evaluated by the DPPH and ABTS methods show that the oils with the highest potential are: P. auritum IC 50 DPPH 4.931 ± 0.005 μl/ ml, IC 50 ABTS 2.960 ± 0.000 μl/ ml; O. quixos IC 50 DPPH 11.291 ± 0.055 μl/ ml, IC 50 ABTS 7.877 ± 0.020 μl/ ml and E. Stipitata IC 50 DPPH 12.866 ± 0.047 μl/ ml, IC 50 ABTS 18.834 ± 0.036 μl/ ml, the positive activity reference oil, T. vulgaris resulted in IC 50 DPPH 0.609 ± 0.001 μl/ ml, IC 50 ABTS 0.317 ± 0.006 μl/ ml. The antioxidant activity measured by the β-carotene bleaching method test highlights the action of the oils of P. auritum IC 50 0.032 ± 0.005 μl/ ml, P. guajava IC 50 0.215 ± 0.004 μl/ ml and O. quixos IC 50 0.428 ± 0.012 μl/ ml, for T. vulgaris we have an IC 50 of 0.080 ± 0.000 μl/ ml. The antioxidant bioautography highlights the activity of the following molecules: safrole in P. auritum, cadinene in E. stipitata and caryophyllene-E, humulene α, copaene and caryophyllene oxide in O. quixos. The results show a promising activity of several essential oils in which P. auritum stands out.