Chemical Profiling Revealed a Dominant Compound Trans-Anethole and Biological Evaluation of an Edible Plant Clausena harmandiana Containing Essential Oil

This study we aimed to characterize the chemical and biological properties of the edible plant, Clausena harmandiana (Pierre) Guillaumin. Fresh leaves of this plant were hydrodistilled to obtain the essential oil, which was characterized by GC-MS. Total phenolic content was evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteau assay. Biological activity was assessed by measuring antioxidants, antimicrobial activities, and the inhibitory effects on tyrosinase, collagenase, and a-glucosidase. The primary components were trans-anethole (91.44%), followed by estragole (2.98%) and cis-anethole (2.55%). The essential oil contained the amount of phenolic 20.63 mg GAE/g extract and showed the activity to scavenge DPPH (IC50 18.48 mg/mL), ABTS (IC50 3.97 mg/mL) radicals and also presented the ability to reduce Fe3+-TPTZ complex on FRAP assay (3.74 mg TEAC/g extract). Additionally, the C. harmandiana essential oil exhibited antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans (MIC 6.63 mg/ml, MFC 13.25 mg/mL) and interestingly presented enzymatic inhibitory effects on collagenase (IC50 0.059 mg/mL) and a-glucosidase (IC50 0.677 mg/mL). The remarkable activity of inhibition on a-glucosidase was two times more to acarbose (IC50 1.26 mg/mL).