EL-Hawary S, EL-Shabrawy A, Ezzat S, EL-Shibany F
Journal of Medicinal Plants and Research, 2013
ABSTRACT:
Following an ethnobotanical survey for hepatoprotective remedies, four Libyan medicinal plants from family Lamiaceae; Ajuga iva (L.) Schreber, Marrubium vulgare L., Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Thymus capitatus Hoff. et Link growing widely in Beida, Libya, were selected for our study. The chemical composition of essential oils hydrodistilled from the dried aerial parts, were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The major constituents of the essential oils of A. iva and R. officinalis were carvacrol (35.07%) and 1,8-cineol (35.21%), respectively, thymol was the major constituent of the essential oil of M. vulgare (20.11%) and T. capitatus (90.15%). The oil of M. vulgare had the most powerful antioxidant activity by restoring glutathione levels in the blood of alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The rats treated with the essential oils of M. vulgare, R. officinalis and T. capitatus (50 mg/kg) showed a significant decrease in liver enzymes which were elevated by CCl4 (p ˂ 0.01). The essential oil of M. vulgare had the most potent hepatoprotective activity.
CITATION:
EL-Hawary S, EL-Shabrawy A, Ezzat S, Et Al. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities of the essential oils of four Libyan herbs. J Med Plants Res. 2013;7(24):1746-1753.
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