Phenolic Profiles, Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Hydrodistillation Wastewaters from Five Lamiaceae Species
Edoardo Napoli,
Giuseppe Ruberto,
Alessandra Carrubba,
Mauro Sarno,
Claudia Muscarà,
Antonio Speciale,
Mariateresa Cristani,
Francesco Cimino,
Antonella Saija
Affiliations
Edoardo Napoli
Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, National Research Council (ICB-CNR), Via P. Gaifami 18, 95126 Catania, Italy
Giuseppe Ruberto
Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, National Research Council (ICB-CNR), Via P. Gaifami 18, 95126 Catania, Italy
Alessandra Carrubba
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Build 4, Entr. L, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Mauro Sarno
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Build 4, Entr. L, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Claudia Muscarà
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Antonio Speciale
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Mariateresa Cristani
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Francesco Cimino
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Antonella Saija
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Distillation is the most widely used method to obtain an essential oil from plant material. The biomass used in the process is returned as a solid residue together with variable amounts of water rich in water-soluble compounds, which currently are not addressed to any further application. The scope of this work was to evaluate the phytochemical composition of wastewaters coming from hydrodistillation (DWWs) of five aromatic plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family, and to assess their in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The phenolic profiles of the DWWs were determined by HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ESI/MS. Free radical scavenging ability, oxygen radical antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase mimetic activity of the samples under study were measured. Moreover, to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of the DWWs, an in vitro experimental model of intestinal inflammation was used. The DWW samples’ phytochemical analysis allowed the identification of 37 phenolic compounds, all exhibiting good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Our study contributes to the knowledge on the polyphenolic composition of the DWWs of five aromatic plants of the Lamiaceae family. The results highlight the presence of compounds with proven biological activity, and therefore of great interest in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields.
