Original Research

Chemical composition, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activities of Ixora scheffleri subspecies keniensis essential oil

Peter K. Njenga, Samuel M. Mugo
Journal of Medicinal Plants for Economic Development | Vol 4, No 1 | a58 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jomped.v4i1.58 | © 2020 Peter K. Njenga, Samuel M. Mugo | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 23 March 2018 | Published: 13 February 2020

About the author(s)

Peter K. Njenga, Department of Botany, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Thika, Kenya
Samuel M. Mugo, Department of Physical Sciences-Chemistry, Grant MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada

Abstract

Background: Essential oil (EO) obtained from Ixora scheffleri subspecies (subsp.) keniensis has valuable biological properties and can play a possible therapeutic role because of its antimicrobial and antioxidant nature.

Aim: In this article, the chemical constituents, antimicrobial activity and antioxidant capacity of the EO obtained from Ixora scheffleri subsp. keniensis were determined using standard procedures.

Setting: Plant material collection, essential oils extractions and antimicrobial assays were performed at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Department of Botany Laboratories. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrophotometry (GC/MS) analysis was carried out at the Physical Science Laboratory, MacEwan University, Canada.

Methods: The chemical constituents were determined using GC/MS. The total phenol content was evaluated using the Folin–Ciocalteu procedure. The antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene linoleic acid assays. The antimicrobial assay was performed using the disc diffusion method.

Results: The total phenol content of the EO was estimated to be 91.6 µg/mg ± 0.5 µg/mg. The antioxidant activity of EO obtained from Ixora relative to ascorbic acid was found to be 52% using the β-carotene linoleic acid assay. The DPPH scavenging activity of 30 µg/mL EO obtained from Ixora and 30 µg/mL ascorbic acid was 81.65% and 97.0%, respectively. The EO was found to have significant susceptibility against Escherichia coli, and intermediate susceptibility against Candida albicans. However, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed complete resistance.

Conclusion: The in vitro chemical compositional analysis of EO obtained from Ixora scheffleri subsp. keniensis confirms the presence of phenolic compounds attesting to the antioxidant properties and antimicrobial properties.


Keywords

Ixora scheffleri; essential oils; phenolic compounds; antioxidant; antimicrobial

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