Chemical composition and some biological activities of the essential oils from basil Ocimum different cultivars

Abstract

Background
The plants belonging to the Ocimum genus of the Lamiaceae family are considered to be a rich source of essential oils which have expressed biological activity and use in different area of human activity. There is a great variety of chemotypes within the same basil species. Essential oils from three different cultivars of basil, O. basilicum var. purpureum, O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora, and O. citriodorum Vis. were the subjects of our investigations.

Methods
The oils were obtained by steam distillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus. The gas chromatography mass selective analysis was used to determine their chemical composition. The antioxidant activities of these essential oils were measured using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assays; the tyrosinase inhibition abilities of the given group of oils were also assessed spectophotometrically, and the antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was determined by the agar diffusion method, minimal inhibitory concentrations were expressed.

Results
According to the results, the qualitative and quantitative composition of essential oils was quite different: O. basilicum var. purpureum essential oil contained 57.3% methyl-chavicol (estragol); O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora oil had 68.0% linalool. The main constituents of O. citriodorum oil were nerol (23.0%) and citral (20.7%). The highest antioxidant activity was demonstrated by O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora essential oil. This oil has also exhibited the highest tyrosinase inhibition level, whereas the oil from O. citriodorum cultivar demonstrated the highest antimicrobial activity.

Conclusions
The results obtained indicate that these essential oils have antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activity and can be used as natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agents in medicine, food industry and cosmetics.

Full text

R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Open Access
Chemical composition and some biological
activities of the essential oils from basil
Ocimum different cultivars
Arpi Avetisyan
1
, Anahit Markosian
1
, Margarit Petrosyan
2
, Naira Sahakyan
2
, Anush Babayan
2
, Samvel Aloyan
1
and Armen Trchounian
2*
Abstract
Background: The plants belonging to the Ocimum genus of the Lamiaceae family are considered to be a rich source
of essential oils which have expressed biological activity and use in different area of human activity. There is a great
variety of chemotypes within the same basil species. Essential oils from three different cultivars of basil, O. basilicum var.
purpureum,O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora,andO. citriodorum Vis.were the subjects of our investigations.
Methods: The oils were obtained by steam distillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus. The gas chromatography mass
selective analysis was used to determine their chemical composition. The antioxidant activities of these essential oils
were measured using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assays; the tyrosinase inhibition abilities of the given group of oils
were also assessed spectophotometrically, and the antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was determined by the
agar diffusion method, minimal inhibitory concentrations were expressed.
Results: According to the results, the qualitative and quantitative composition of essential oils was quite different:
O. basilicum var. purpureum essential oil contained 57.3% methyl-chavicol (estragol); O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora oil had
68.0% linalool. The main constituents of O. citriodorum oil were nerol (23.0%) and citral (20.7%). The highest antioxidant
activity was demonstrated by O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora essential oil. This oil has also exhibited the highest tyrosinase
inhibition level, whereas the oil from O. citriodorum cultivar demonstrated the highest antimicrobial activity.
Conclusions: The results obtained indicate that these essential oils have antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal
activity and can be used as natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agents in medicine, food industry and cosmetics.
Keywords: Ocimum, Essential oil, Methyl-chavicol, Linalool, Nerol, Citral, Antioxidant, Antibacterial activity
Background
The plants belonging to the basil genome or Ocimum
genus of the Lamiaceae family are aromatic ones [1] and
are considered to be a rich source of essential oils-the
metabolites, synthesized by plants for specific functions,
using various secondary metabolic pathways. Humans
have learned to use these metabolites since antiquity for
food preservation, flavoring, and as medicine. The basil
essential oils are usually extracted from the leaves and
flowering tops of basil plants. Through the centuries
basil was cultivated for culinary and medicinal purposes
in many countries, which created a great diversity of
species within the Ocimum genus: the genus Ocimum
comprises more than 150 species and is considered as
one of the largest genera of the Lamiaceae family.
It is known, that different cultivars of basil have the
genetic ability to generate and keep different sets of
chemical compounds. This ability leads to a great variety
of chemotypes within the same basil species. According
to some investigations [2], the essential oils distilled
from various basil cultivars can contain alcohols (linalool),
oxides (1,8-cineole), phenols (eugenol, methyl eugenol,
methyl isoeugenol, thymol), esters (methyl cinnamate),
aldehydes (citral), and camphor. The 1,8-cineole, methyl
cinnamate, methyl chavicol, and linalool are constituents
responsible for the distinct aroma of basil plants [3].
* Correspondence: Trchounian@ysu.am
2
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Biotechnology, Biology Faculty,
Yerevan State University, 1 A. Manoogian Str., 0025 Yerevan, Armenia
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Avetisyan et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2017) 17:60
DOI 10.1186/s12906-017-1587-5
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Lawrence [4] named four major chemotypes of basil:
methyl chavicol-rich, linalool-rich, methyl eugenol-rich,
and methyl cinnamate-rich. Both methyl chavicol and
methyl eugenol are phenylpropanoids produced by
shikimic acid pathway and are reported to be toxic to in-
sects and microbes. Linalool is a terpenoid produced by
mevalonic acid pathway and known to possess antioxi-
dant and antimicrobial activity [5]. Methyl cinnamate is
the methyl ester of cinnamic acid. It is found naturally
in many aromatic plants, including fruits like strawberry
and is known to attract pollinators. According to
Marotti et al. [6] the European basils are mostly of linal-
ool and methyl chavicol types, whereas tropical basils
have methyl cinnamate as their major constituent. Basils
of methyl eugenol chemotype could be found growing in
North Africa, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia [7].
Numerous papers have been published on the anti-
microbial and antioxidant properties of basil essential
oils and its constituents. Koeduka et al. [8] and Zabka et
al. [9] reported the antimicrobial activity of eugenol with
analgesic properties for humans. Liu et al. [5] investi-
gated the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of
linalool and geraniol. While Sokovićet al. [10] and
Huang et al. [11] investigated the usage of linalool, me-
thyl chavicol, and thymol for skin protection against all
sources of environmental skin aggressors and treatment
of various dermatological disorders.
Since the chemical composition (chemotype) and bio-
logical activity of essential oils distilled from the plants
belonging to the same species may vary significantly,
depending on the variety of cultivars, environment, ele-
vation and cultivation methods, it is interesting to study
the essential oils obtained from the different kinds of
basil grown in Armenia, in similar conditions, at a sig-
nificant elevation (1600 m above sea level).
In the present study the comparative analysis of the
chemical composition and biological activities of essential
oils distilled from three varieties of basil, O. basilicum var.
purpureum,O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora,andO. xcitrio-
dorum, was carried out.The plants under investigation
were grown in the same soil, at the same elevation, and
under the same climatic conditions. The first two cultivars
were varieties of O. basilicum species, or Sweet basil, and
the third one, the Lemon basil (O. x citriodorum) was a
hybrid between O. basilicum and O. americanum.
The purpose of this paper was also to study the
biological activities of given oils and to evaluate their
potential using in food industry, cosmetics and
medicine.
Methods
Plant material
The three basil cultivars (O. basilicum var. purpureum,
O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora, and O. xcitriodorum) were
grown from the seeds sown in the greenhouse, with sub-
sequent transplantation of the seedlings to the same
field, in the Kotayk Region of Armenia, where they have
been growing side by side, at an elevation of 1600 m
above the sea level. Plant materials were collected during
blossoming period (July–August, 2014). The plant mate-
rials were identified at the Institute of Botany, National
Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan (Armenia).
The plants were not included in the herbarium as there
were cultivated species and not typical for the flora of
Armenia. The samples of basil cultivars are available at
the Department of Microbiology & Plants and Microbes
Biotechnology, Biology Faculty, Yerevan State University,
Yerevan, Armenia.
Essential oil extraction
Essential oils were extracted from air dried plant material
(aerial parts only) by hydro-distillation, using a Clevenger-
type apparatus and lasted 3 h. The distilled essential oils
had been dehydrated with anhydrous sodium sulphate
and stored at 4 °C in dark airtight bottles until further
analysis [12].
Determination of essential oil chemical composition
The gas chromatography (GC) mass selective (MS)
analysis of the essential oils was performed using a
Hewlett–Packard 5890 Series II gas chromatograph,
fitted with a fused silica HP –5MS capillary column
(30 m × 0.25 mm, in thickness 0.25 μm). The oven
temperature varied from 40–250 °C with the scanning
rate of 3 °C/min. Helium (purity 5.6) was used as a car-
rier gas at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The GC was
equipped with Hewlett–Packard 5972 Series MS de-
tector. The MS operating parameters were ionization
voltage70eVandionsourcetemperature250°C.The
diluted samples of essential oils (1/100, v/v in HPLC
methanol) of 1 μL had been injected manually. To
avoid overloading the GC column, the essential oils
were diluted 1:100 (v/v) in methanol. The identifica-
tion of peaks was tentatively carried out based on li-
brary search using National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST)-2013. Relative Retention Index
(RRI) was calculated for HP-5MS column. For RRI cal-
culation a mixture of homologues n-alkanes (C9-C18)
was used under the same chromatographic conditions
as for analysis of the essential oils.
Investigation of antimicrobial activity by agar diffusion
method
The antibacterial and antifungal activity of the essential
oils was determined by the agar diffusion method [13].
This method was preferred over the dilution method be-
cause of low solubility of essential oils in water and in
meat peptone broth. The following concentrations of
Avetisyan et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2017) 17:60 Page 2 of 8
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essential oils were used: 150; 100; 50; 25; 12.5; 6.25 μL/
mL; dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used as the solvent.
The 100 μL of each oil solution was introduced to the wells
in the agar with test microorganisms. Different Gram-
positive (Bacillus subtilis WT-A, isolated from metal pol-
luted soils of Kajaran, Armenia; Staphylococcus aureus
MDC 5233 (Microbial Depository Center, Armbiotechnol-
ogy Scientific and Production Center, Armenia; laboratory
control strain) and Gram-negative (E. coli VKPM-M17
(Russian National Collection of Industrial Microorgan-
isms at the Institute of Genetics and Selection of Indus-
trial Microorganisms, Russia; laboratory control strain),
Pseudomonas aeruginosa GRP3 (Soil and Water Re-
search Institute, Iran) bacteria and ampicillin-resistant
E. coli dhpα-pUC18 were used. Bacterial cultures were
grown on Mueller-Hinton agar. Ampicillin (25 μg/mL)
as a positive control and DMSO as a negative control
were used. The yeasts (Candida albicans WT-174 iso-
lated from infected vaginal microbiota of hospitalized
patients (clinical strain) and Debariomyces hansenii
WT (French National Institute for Agricultural Re-
search, France; laboratory control strain) were grown
and maintained on Sabouraud-dextrose agar for 24 h at
room temperature. As the positive control fluconazole
(25 μg/mL) was used. Data were expressed in minimal
inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values.
The selected pieces of nutrient medium from the
zones of microorganism growth absence were trans-
ferred to the nutrient medium corresponding to each
microorganism and then they were incubated for 2–
3 days at appropriate temperature to determine the
bacteriostatic or bactericidal action of the oils. The
action of oils is evaluated as bacteriostatic in case of
renewed growth of test-microorganisms after the re-
cultivation.
Determination of radical scavenging activity
Free radical scavenging ability of the essential oils was
tested using ethanol solution of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydra-
zyl (DPPH) [14]. Catechin was used as a positive reference.
Sample solution contained 125 μL (1 mM) DPPH, 375 μL
ethanol and 500 μL of test-solution (essential oils or
catechin with different concentrations). In the control solu-
tion the test-solution was replaced by ethanol. The absorb-
ance was measured at the wavelength of 514 nm.
The radical scavenging activity was calculated using
the following formula: Radical scavenging activity (%) =
Ac–As/Ac × 100, where Ac is absorbance of control
(DPPH without the addition of test solution), and As-
the absorbance of the sample.
IC
50
calculated denote the concentration of investi-
gated samples required to decrease the DPPH absorb-
ance at 514 nm by 50%.
Tyrosinase inhibition colorimetric assay
Tyrosinase inhibition colorimetric assay was carried out
according to the method, as described [15, 16]. Each es-
sential oil was dissolved in DMSO to obtain concentra-
tion of 20 mg/mL. These stock solutions were diluted to
600 μg/mL concentration in 50 mM potassium phos-
phate buffer (pH 6.5). Arbutin acid was prepared in
similar way and used as positive control. 700 μLofeach
sample solution or positive control were combined with
300 μL of mushroom tyrosinase (333 Unit per mL in
phosphate buffer, pH 6.5). After incubation at 20–22 °C
for 5 min, 1100 μL tyrosine (2 mM) were added to each
well. Plates were incubated at room temperature for
30 min and the absorbance was measured at the wave-
length of 492 nm using the spectrophotometer Genesys
10S UV–vis (Thermo Scientific, USA). Percent inhibi-
tion of tyrosinase activity was calculated according to
the formula: inhibition (%) = 100-(W
sample
/W
blank
) × 100,
where W is absorbance at 492 nm. W
blank
is absorbance
of control reaction (containing all reagents without test
compound).
Statistical analysis
Experimental data (n= 4) were expressed as means
with standard errors. The latter did not exceed 3% (if
not indicated). The validity of differences between ex-
perimental and appropriate control data were evalu-
ated by Student’s criteria (P) using Microsoft Excel
2010 with the help of Ttest function; P<0.05 (if not
indicated).
Results
Determination of chemical composition of essential oils
The results from the quantitative and qualitative analysis
of essential oils constituents are presented in Table 1:
the average yield of the essential oils was 0.2%. More
than 40 compounds were isolated, detected and most of
them identified for each essential oil sample. The domi-
nant components were identified to be linalool, methyl
chavicol, citral and nerol.
According to the data obtained, O. basilicum var.
purpureum contains 57.3% methyl chavicol, with the
second largest component being linalool (18%). This
places the given variety of O. basilicum into methyl
chavicol-rich chemotype. O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora
belongs to linalool-rich chemotype, with concentrations
of linalool and methyl chavicol being 68 and 20% re-
spectively. These data are in a good accordance with the
results reported by Sishu et al. [17]. For the essential
oil from O. xcitriodorum species the predominant
constituents were identified to be citral (21%) and
nerol (23%), therefore it could not be classified as be-
longing to any of the chemotypes mentioned above,
but will rather form its own, nerol-rich chemotype.
Avetisyan et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2017) 17:60 Page 3 of 8
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ThedataonO. xcitriodorum are somewhat consist-
ent with the similar results published by Carović-
Stanko et al. [18] on essential oil distilled from the
plant of the same species, except for the fact that
there were more than 45 constituents of O. xcitrio-
dorum essential oil identified in the present study, as
opposed to 20 components identified by Carović-
Stanko et al. [18].
Antimicrobial activity of essential oils
The present investigation revealed that Gram-positive
bacteria tested were more sensitive to all three essential
oils than Gram-negative bacteria (Fig. 1). Such tendency
is also observed by other authors [19]. The essential oil
of O. xcitriodorum was quite active against B. subtilis
and St. aureus, with the MIC of 3.125 μL/mL. The same
MIC was recorded for the essential oil of O. basilicum
Table 1 Chemical composition of essential oils of Ocimum basilicum var.purpureum,Ocium basilicum var. thyrsiflora,Ocimum
citriodorum
Chemical components Relative Retention Index
a
O. basilicum var. purpureum, %
b
O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora, %O.xcitriodorum, %
1-octen-3-ol 979 0,2 - 0,1
1-8- Cineole 1035 1.40 3.50 -
(Z) -β-Ocimene 1058 - - 0.24
γ-Terpinene 1078 - - 0.22
Fenhone 1089 - - 0.32
Linalool 1100 18.00 68.00 9.42
Camphor 1146 1.30 1.35 -
α- Terpineol 1181 - - 0.62
Methyl chavicol 1203 57.3 20.00 9.45
Nerol 1231 - - 23.00
Neral 1244 - - 4.93
Geraniol 1259 5.20
Geranial 1274 - - 15.77
Bornyl acetate 1291 0.13 - -
Neryl acetate 1321 - - 0.65
Methyl cinnamate 1338 - - 0.49
β-Elemene 1387 3.62 0.67 0.53
β-Caryophyllene 1419 1.72 - 7.80
β–Copaene 1428 0.28 - 0.56
trans-α-Bergamotene 1433 4.34 1.34 3.52
α-Humulene 1455 0.55 0.28 1.52
cis- β-Farnesene 1472 0.31 - 0.48
Germacrene d 1482 0.68 0.17 -
β-Cubebene 1497 - 0.75 2.26
α-Bulnesene 1502 1.39 0.68 0.47
α-Amorphen 1510 1.54 0.69 -
δ-Cadinene 1518 - - 0.38
Aromadendrene 1529 1.67 0.28 -
Spathulenol 1544 0.68 - -
Caryophyllene oxide 1550 0.57 - -
α–Bisabolene 1561 - - 2.29
β- Bisabolenene 1572 - - 8.31
α-Bisabolol 1642 - - 0.29
a
for HP-5 capillary column
b
%: Calculated from MIC data
Avetisyan et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2017) 17:60 Page 4 of 8
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var. thyrsiflora against St. aureus, and O. basilicum var.
purpureum essential oil against B. subtilis. The MIC of
O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora essential oil against B. subti-
lis and MIC of O. basilicum var. purpureum against St.
aureus were twice as high, 6.25 μL/mL. The ampicillin-
resistant E. coli bacteria also displayed sensitivity against
the essential oils tested: thus the MIC values of O. x
citriodorum and O. basilicum var. purpureum against
thosebacteriawere6.25μL/mL, while O. basilicum
var. thyrsiflora displayed MIC of 12.5 μL/mL. The ac-
tion of the essential oils on the all bacteria in this
study was evaluated as bactericidal.
All three essential oils have also displayed high anti-
fungal activity, with O. xcitriodorum being the strongest
antifungal amongst them: MIC of O. xcitriodorum
against D. hansenii and C. guillermondii were 1.56 and
3.125 μL/mL, respectively (see Fig. 1).
Radical scavenging activity
The results of radical DPPH assay for of O. xcitrio-
dorum,O. basilicum var.purpureum, O. basilicum var.
thyrsiflora essential oils are shown on Fig. 2. The highest
antioxidant activity was demonstrated by O. basilicum
var. thyrsiflora essential oil: IC
50
value for it was equal
0
15
30
45
Minimal inhibitory concentration
(µl/mL)
O. x citriodorum O.basilicum var. thyrsiflora O. basilicum var. purpureum
Fig. 1 The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of O. citriodorum,O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora and O. basilicum var. purpureum essential oils on
selected Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Antibiotic-resistant E. coli dhpα-pUC18 strain was used. For bacteria and fungi strains
and other details, see Methods. *Antibiotic-resistant E. coli dhpα-pUC18 strain
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Grapefruit Seed
Extract (positive
control)
O.basilicum var.
purpureum
O. x citriodorum O. basilicum var.
thyrsiflora
IC
50
value for DPPH radical
scavenging activity (µL/mL)
Fig. 2 IC
50
values of antiradical activity of O. citriodorum,O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora and O. basilicum var. purpureum essential oils. For details,
see Methods
Avetisyan et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2017) 17:60 Page 5 of 8
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to the standardized Grapefruit Seed Extract which was
used as a control sample (2.5 μL/mL). The antiradical
activity for the other two basil species was lower: IC
50
value for O. xcitriodorum essential oil was 20 μL/mL
and for O. basilicum var. purpureum was 22 μL/mL.
These results were somewhat unexpected, since usually
the oils with higher phenolic content are the ones exhi-
biting higher radical scavenging abilities, whereas in our
case the highest antioxidant properties were displayed by
the cultivar with the highest linalool (terpene alcohol)
content.
Tyrosinase inhibition activity
The enzyme tyrosinase inhibition abilities of all three
oils were also assessed as a part of our efforts to find a
natural treatment for hyper-pigmentation skin disorder.
The values for tyrosinase inhibitory activity of O. basilicum
var. thyrsiflora,O. basilicum var. purpureum and O. x
citriodorum essential oils and arbutin acid (positive con-
trol) were calculated to be 20.1 ± 1.4%; 11.5 ± 0.3%; 17.4 ±
0.9% and 81.5 ± 2.6%, respectively (Fig. 3).
Discussion
Under the experimental conditions of the present study
it was revealed that the dominant constituent for O.
basilicum var. purpureum is methyl chavicol (estragol),
whereas the major component for the other variety of
the same species, O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora is linalool.
At the same time, the chemical composition of O. citrio-
dorium hybrid plant differed substantially from the first
two basil varieties: it had significant aldehyde content,
represented by citral, with another prevalent constituent
being nerol (monoterpene alcohol). Neither citral nor
nerol was detected in the two other species of Ocimum
(see Table 1). We observed that the essential oil from O.
citriodorum species displayed the highest antimicrobial
activity against the most of microorganisms tested. The
experiments showed that essential oils from all three
varieties of basil can significantly inhibit the growth of
ampicillin-resistant strain of E. coli bacteria. It is inter-
esting to notice, that the observed antibacterial activities
of the essential oils from O. citriodorum and O. basili-
cum var. purpureum against E. coli where much higher
in case of ampicillin-resistant strain than in the case of a
non-resistant one. At the same time, the essential oil
from O. thyrsiflora cultivar displayed the same, relatively
high antibacterial activity in both cases (see Fig. 1).
The essential oils from all three basil cultivars tested
showed high inhibition activities against fungi and high
radical scavenging activity. Among the three, the essen-
tial oil from the O. thyrsiflora variety displayed the high-
est ability to neutralize free radicals and showed results
similar to the positive control.
The essential oils from all three varieties exhibited
some tyrosinase inhibitory activity, although it wasn’t
particularly high.
The essential oils from both O. citriodorum and O.
thyrsiflora varieties of basil show high inhibition rates
against S. aureus bacteria, which makes it possible to
consider using these oils as active natural ingredients for
the treatment of skin irritations, since S. aureus is extre-
meley common on the skin of patients with certain der-
matological diseases [20], and it is often considered to
be a major culprit in causing skin irritation and soft
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Arbutin acid
(positive
control)
O.basilicum
var. purpureum
O. x
citriodorum
O. basilicum
var. thyrsiflora
Tyrosinase inhibitory activity
Fig. 3 The tyrosinase inhibitory activity of O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora and O. basilicum var. purpureum,O. citriodorum essential oils. For details,
see Methods
Avetisyan et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2017) 17:60 Page 6 of 8
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

tissue infections [21]. At the same time, the combination
of very strong antioxidant properties with some tyrosin-
ase inhibition abilities makes the essential oil of O. thyr-
siflora a good candidate to be used as a multifunctional
cosmetic active in various cosmetic formulas, namely as
an antioxidant with some additional skin brightening
properties.
Conclusions
The qualitative and quantitative composition of the
three essential oils of three basil cultivars (O. basilicum
var. thyrsiflora,O. basilicum var. purpureum and O. x
citriodorum), cultivated in Armenia, was quite different:
O. basilicum var. purpureum essential oil contained
57.3% methyl-chavicol (estragol); O. basilicum var. thyr-
siflora oil had 68.0% linalool, and the main constituents
of O. xcitriodorum oil were nerol (23.0%) and citral
(20.7%). The presence of thyrosinase inhibitory activity
is enhances the pharmacological value of these oils. They
had also high antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal
activity and could be used as good sources of natural
antimicrobial and antioxidant agents, with possible ap-
plication in food industry, cosmetics or medicine.
Abbreviations
DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide; DPPH: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl; GS: Gas
chromatography; MIC: Minimal inhibitory concentration; MS: Mass selective;
NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology; P: Student’s criteria;
RRI: Relative retention index
Acknowledgement
This study was done in the frame of the cooperation with Nairian CJSC
(Armenia).
Funding
This study was done in the frame of Basic research support by State
Committee of Science, Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia, to
Yerevan State University.
Availability of data and materials
The plant materials and methods used (see hereafter) were available upon
request. All data obtained have been included into the manuscript.
Author’s contribution
AA collected plant material, obtained essential oils and identified chemical
structure of essential oil components; AM contributed to manuscript
preparation and improved English; MP identified plants, developed the
methods and contributed to manuscript preparation; NS developed the
methods and prepared the manuscript; AB tested the biological activities of
essential oils and analyzed data; SA obtained essential oils and provided
chemical analyses; AT supervised the study and edited the manuscript. All
authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Competing of interest
The authors declare no commercial, financial or any other conflict of interest.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Author details
1
Nairian CJSC, Khorenatsi 15, Yerevan, Armenia.
2
Department of Biochemistry,
Microbiology & Biotechnology, Biology Faculty, Yerevan State University, 1 A.
Manoogian Str., 0025 Yerevan, Armenia.
Received: 16 September 2016 Accepted: 14 January 2017
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