Identification and Quantification of Phenolic Antioxidants in Some Selected Traditional Sri Lankan Medicinal Oils

Abstract

ABSTRACTSeveral medicinal properties of seed oils are known to originate from the nonsaponifiable compounds present in the oils. Among the nonsaponifiable compounds. phenolic fraction includes phenolic acids and flavonoids. These compounds are known to render several beneficial health effects. In the present study, phenolic compounds of the seed oils of Brassica juncea (Aba), Madhuca nerifolia (Mee), Sessamwn indicum (Thala), Calophyllum inophyllum (Dhomba), Canerium zeylanicum (Kekuna) and Ricinus calamus (Endaru) were identified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique and individual phenolic antioxidants were quantified by the integration of the signal areas of chromatograms. The results arc given in the Table 1. Table 1. Phenolic antioxidants in selected traditional Sri Lankan medicinal oils -- ---- -----·---- -··------ ··----- Phenolic compound HPLC Amount of phenolic compound (mg/ kg of oil) retention ----.. ---- time Do mba Aha Mee Kekuna Thala (min) 3,4- DHBA 12.8 0.43 ± 0.21 ± 1.29 ± 0.02 0.02 0.20 CH 14.4 1.82 ± 1.33 :1:: 1.24 ± 0.12 0.30 0.10 PHBA 16.6 0.10 ± 0.32 ± 1.04± 1.0 L 0.01 0.03 0.20 0.02 Vanillic 18.5 Caffeic acid 18.9 1.61 1 0.44 ± 0.83 + 0.10 0.04 0.03 Syringic acid 19.7 0.56 ± 0.06 Vanillin 21.3 0.24 ± 0.13 ± 0.31 ± 0.04 0.02 0.02 Ellagic acid 28.9 1.54 ± 2.12 L 1.55 ± 0.30 0.30 0.20 Cinnamic acid 37.9 1.93 ± 0.32 ± 0.20 0.02 Each data point represents the mean of three replicates± S.E Endaru 2.33 ± 0.30 0.90± 0.10 0.74 ± 0.04 1.30 ± 0.10 3, 4- DHBA - 3, 4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid PHBA - P-hydroxybenzoic acid CH -Catechin hydrate The results indicate that these medicinal oils contain several phenolic acids and lavonoids whose beneficial health effects and antioxidant properties are already known. Financial assistance of IFS E/3652-1 and NSF /RG/2005/ AGIO 1 grants is highly acknowledged.