Comparison between the chemical composition and radical scavenging activities of essential oils of leaves, flowers and fruits of callistemon lanceolatus DC grown in Egypt

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from leaves, flowers and fruits of Callistemon lanceolatus were analyzed by a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer [GC/MS]. The oil yields were 0.68%, 0.52% and 025%, respectively. Thirty six compounds were identified in leaf oil, while thirty four compounds were identified in both the flower and fruit oils. 1, 8-Cineole was the main component in the three oils in percentage 87.83% in leaf oil, 73.79% in flower oil and 40.89% in fruit oil, followed by p-menth-1-en-8-o1 which is present in higher percentage in fruit oil [4.30%] than in leaf oil [2.92%]. The flower oil was characterized by its high content of alpha-pinene [27.16%] and cis-asarone [9.68%].In vitro radical scavenging activities of these oils obtained by DPPH [2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl] assay, were also evaluated between 5 and 20 mg/ml. The scavenging activities of the oils were time dependant, since the activities increased 2-4 folds after 30 minutes. At 20 mg/ml, leaf, fruit and flower oils showed good capacities to act as a non specific donor of hydrogen atoms or electrons, quenching 91.6, 71.5 and 52% of the radicals, respectively. The IC50 of the oils were 7.6, 11.8 and 19.1 mg/ml, respectively

Chemical and physiological studies on Anise hyssop [Agastache foeniculum pursh] and hyssop [Hyssopus officinalis L] plants grown in Egypt as new spices

Two years trials were carried out to evaluate the anise hyssop [Agastachefoeniculum Pursh] and hyssop [Hyssopus officinalis L] plants as new sources ofessential oil in Egypt. Changes in growth, oil production and oilconstituents of anise hyssop and hyssop were determined during their lifecycles. The yields of fresh herb and oil of hyssop and anise hyssop reachedtheir peaks at the flowering stage of growth, July and August, respectively. The two major components of anise hyssop herb oil were methylchavicol [62.31%]and limonene [8.46%] which accounted for approximately 70.77% of the totalanise hyssop herb oil grown in Egypt, while hyssop herb oil was characterizedby high content of beta-pinene [19.60%], pinocamphone [19.20%] and camphor[16.3%]