Chemical composition and anti-inflammatory activity of flower essential oil from Forsythia koreana Nakai

Abstract

Forsythia koreana Nakai is an ornamental plant widely cultivated in East Asia. The essential oil of F. koreana flowers (FEO) was extracted by hydrodistillation process and the volatile components were determined with gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The anti-inflammatory activity of FEO was investigated by using TPA-induced mouse ear inflammation model. The major components of FEO were identified as n-tetracosane (29.85%), n-heneicosane (17.45%), myristic acid (8.46%) and palmitaldehyde (6.22%). The TPA-induced mouse ear edema, water content, dermis thickness, epidermis thickness and nitric oxide production were decreased by FEO. Our findings suppose that the flower essential oil of F. koreana exerted anti-inflammatory activity, and may be used in the development of anti-inflammatory products in future.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Forsythia koreana Nakai
• flower essential oil
• chemical composition
• anti-inflammatory

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The animal study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants and Daegu University.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the independent subject of Guangxi Science and Technology Base and Special Talents (Guike AD22080012, AD21238011), Special Foundation for National Science and Technology Basic Resources of China (2018FY100700) and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Medicinal Resources Protection and Genetic Improvement (KL2022ZZ01).