Activity guided characterization of antioxidant components from essential oil of Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)

Present study aimed at evaluating antioxidant and radioprotective ability of nutmeg essential oil and to isolate and identify major antioxidant components. Activity guided fractionation to identify major antioxidant compounds were carried out by dot blot tests on TLC. A new index termed as antioxidant activity values (AAV) for calculating contribution of individual compounds towards total activity is proposed. Activity guided fractionation resulted in identification of elemicin, 4-terpineol, myristicin and trans-sabinene hydrate as major antioxidant constituents of nutmeg essential oil. Results of DPPH assay demonstrated elemicin as most potent antioxidant compound. However, AAV suggested that 4-terpineol has greater contribution towards total antioxidant activity of oil due to its higher abundance. Essential oil is also demonstrated to possess radioprotective ability as evaluated by plasmid DNA protection assay for first time in this study.