Study of Anti-oxidant, Anti-inflammatory, Genotoxicity, and Antimicrobial Activities and Analysis of Different Constituents found in Rhizome Essential Oil of Curcuma caesia Roxb., Collected from North East India

Background: This investigation was designed to evaluate the chemical composition, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, genotoxicity, and antimicrobial activities of Curcuma caesia Roxb rhizome essential oil. Methods: Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis was performed to determine the chemical composition, standard antioxidative test DPPH assay, reducing power assay, in vitro anti-inflammatory activity (egg albumin denaturation, protease inhibitory assay) by using standard methods. Similarly, antimicrobial activity was tested using the disc diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration ability (MIC); while to test genotoxicity, Allium cepa assay was used. Results: GC/MS analysis revealed eucalyptol (28.55%), epicurzerenone (19.62%), and camphor (21.73%) as the major components of C. caesia rhizome essential oil. Potent antioxidant (IC50 = 48.08 +/- 0.003 mu g/mL), anti-inflammatory (IC50 = 121.7 +/- 0.0013 mu g/mL), and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil were recorded better than the standard drugs Fluconazole for fungus and Ciprofloxacin for bacteria. The essential oil also possessed a strong antibacterial effect against two tested bacterial strains B. subtilis and B. cereus with 7.5 mu g/mL MIC value, while for fungal strains the essential oil was most effective against S. cereviaceae with an MIC value of 2.5 mu g/mL. All the data were recorded in triplicates. Allium cepa assay revealed minor genotoxicity with mitotic index, MI=27.70%; chromosome aberration, A= 1.1% of C. caesia rhizome essential oil. Conclusion: C. caesia rhizome essential oil possesses potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties with negligible genotoxicity. Hence, the present study is highly significant for the utilization of rhizome of C. caesia, a high-value ethnopharmacological plant for advanced R & D and commercial application.