Evaluation of chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic activities of the essential oil based nanoemulsions of Cinnamomum litseifolium

Abstract

In the present study, antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic activities of nanoemulsions of the leaf essential oils of Cinnamomum litseifolium Thwaites collected from two different locations in the Western Ghats namely, Kannikatty, Kalakad Mundandurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu (Cl¹) and Karamanayar, Agasthyamalai hills, Kerala (Cl²), India were studied. Essential oils were extracted from the leaves and characterized by GC-FID and GC-MS. Slight variation in the composition of leaf essential oils was observed. Essential oil based nanoemulsions were prepared using a surfactant (Tween-80), co-surfactant (propylene glycol) and an emulsifier (lecithin) by homogenization followed by ultra-sonication. Upon characterization, the nanoemulsion of Cl¹ showed better stability than Cl². Both nanoemulsions inhibited α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes with IC₅₀ values of 1.998 and 0.780 mg/mL for Cl¹ and 3.587 and 1.455 mg/mL for Cl² respectively.

Keywords:

• Cinnamomum litseifolium
• essential oil
• nanoemulsion
• α-amylase
• α-glucosidase

Acknowledgements

We thank Kerala & Tamil Nadu State Forest Departments for permission to collect leaf samples. We are grateful to the Vice-Chancellor and Dean, Sponsored Research, SASTRA Deemed University for providing facilities and Teaching Assistant Fellowship to the first author.