Anethole rich Clausena heptaphylla (Roxb.) Wight & Arn., essential oil pharmacology and genotoxic efficiencies

Anethole, a widely used industrial flavoring agent is majorly sourced from anise and star anise. The present study is aimed to the in-depth pharmacological analysis i.e. anti-diabetic, skin whitening, neurodegenerative disorder inhibitory activities of anethole-rich Clausena heptaphylla leaf essential oil (ARCHEO) (88.59%) as revealed by the Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis and further confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance H-1-NMR as well as to compare with standard compound anethole. ARCHEO (ABTS EC50 6.97 +/- 0.004 mu g/mL; Protease assay 4.51 +/- 0.004 mu g/mL) outperformed the standard compound anethole (ABTS EC50 9.48 +/- 0.048 mu g/mL; Protease assay EC50 22.64 +/- 0.016 mu g/mL) in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory experiments. ARCHEO was also shown to be more effective than the reference compound anethole in terms of anti-diabetic activity (EC50 22.35 +/- 0.121 mu g/mL), tyrosinase inhibitory activity (EC50 16.45 +/- 0.012 mu g/mL), and anti-cholinesterase activity (EC50 22.32 +/- 0.016 mu g/mL). However, ARCHEO exhibited lower antimicrobial activity towards all the tested microbes compared to standard compound anethole and as for the MIC, ARCHEO was effective only towards Salmonella typhimurium (60 mu g/mL), Streptococcus mutans (20 mu g/mL), and Aspergillus fumigatus (75 mu g/mL). ARCHEO (11.11%) and anethole (12.33%) showed no genotoxic effect based on Allium cepa assay mitotic index value. Thus, ARCHEO could be a commercially viable and widely available cheaper source of anethole, which has buoyant demand in the field of food flavoring, fragrance, and pharmaceutical industries.

Automated summary

ARCHEO, an essential oil rich in anethole sourced from Clausena heptaphylla leaves, showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities superior to standard compound anethole. It also exhibited stronger anti-diabetic, skin whitening, and neurodegenerative disorder inhibitory activities. However, it had lower antimicrobial activity compared to anethole and did not show genotoxic effects. ARCHEO could serve as a commercially viable and easily accessible alternative source of anethole for the food flavoring, fragrance, and pharmaceutical industries.