Antioxidant and antiangiogenic activities of the essential oils of Myristica fragrans and Morinda citrifolia

ObjectiveToinvestigate the anti-angiogenic activity and antioxidant properties of Myristica fragrans (M. fragrans) (nutmeg) and Morinda citrifolia (M. citrifolia)(mengkudu) oils.MethodsThe nutmeg and megkudu essential oils were obtained by steam distillation. The antioxidant activities of both essential oils were determined by beta-carotene/linoleic acid bleaching assay and reducing power while the anti-angiogenic activity was investigated using rat aortic ring assay using various concentrations.ResultsThe results showed that nutmeg oil has higher antioxidant activity than mengkudu oil. The nutmeg oil effectively inhibited the oxidation of linoleic acid with (88.68±0.1)% while the inhibition percentage of oxidation of linoleic acid of the mengkudu oil is (69.44±0.4)%. The nutmeg oil and mengkudu oil showed reducing power with an EC50 value of 181.4 μg/mL and 3 043.0 μg/mL, respectively. The antiangiogenic activity of nutmeg oil showed significant antiangiogenic activity with IC50 of 77.64 μg/mL comparing to mengkudu oil which exhibits IC50 of 109.30 μg/mL.ConclusionsBioactive compound(s) will be isolated from the nutmeg essential oil to be developed as antiangiogenic drugs.