Chemical composition and biological activities of essential oil of the Malaysian endemic Syzygium variolosum (King) Chantar. & J.Parn

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the chemical composition of the essential oil of Syzygium variolosum (King) Chantar. & J.Parn. and their cytotoxicity, acetylcholinesterase, antityrosinase, and anti-inflammatory activities. In total, 32 chemical components were identified in the essential oil, which made up 98.9%. The essential oil is mainly composed of β-elemene (20.2%), bicyclogermacrene (13.5%), viridiflorol (11.1%), globulol (8.6%), and selin-11-en-4α-ol (5.3%). Acetylcholinesterase, antityrosinase, and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated with the Ellman method, mushroom tyrosinase, and lipoxygenase enzymes, respectively, while cytotoxicity was assessed using an MTT assay. The results showed that essential oil gave significant percentage inhibition (I%: acetylcholinesterase 35.2%, antityrosinase 42.5%, lipoxygenase 48.6%). Furthermore, the essential oil exhibited cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines, HepG2, MCF7, and A549, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 90.2 to 95.2 μg/mL. The current study highlights the potential of the use of essential oils as an alternative to the development of pharmaceutical antichemopreventives or cosmetics.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Syzygium variolosum
• essential oil
• bicyclogermacrene
• cholinesterase
• tyrosinase
• lipoxygenase

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Dr. Shamsul Khamis, Director of Fraser’s Hill Research Center for plant identification and collection at Fraser’s Hill, Pahang.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Fundamental University Research Grant (GPUF) 2022 [2022-0130-102-01].