Study of Anti-oxidant, Anti-inflammatory, Genotoxicity, and Antimicrobial Activities and Analysis of Different Constituents found in Rhizome Essential Oil of Roxb., Collected from North East India.

Background: This investigation was designed to evaluate the chemical composition, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, genotoxicity, and antimicrobial activities of Curcuma caesia Roxb rhizome essential oil.

Methods: Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis was performed to determine the chemical composition, standard antioxidative test DPPH assay, reducing power assay, in vitro antiinflammatory activity (egg albumin denaturation, protease inhibitory assay) by using standard methods. Similarly, antimicrobial activity was tested using the disc diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration ability (MIC); while to test genotoxicity, Allium cepa assay was used.

Results: GC/MS analysis revealed eucalyptol (28.55%), epicurzerenone (19.62%), and camphor (21.73%) as the major components of C. caesia rhizome essential oil. Potent antioxidant (IC50= 48.08±0.003 μg/mL), anti-inflammatory (IC50= 121.7±0.0013 μg/mL), and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil were recorded better than the standard drugs Fluconazole for fungus and Ciprofloxacin for bacteria. The essential oil also possessed a strong antibacterial effect against two tested bacterial strains B. subtilis and B. cereus with 7.5 μg/mL MIC value, while for fungal strains the essential oil was most effective against S. cereviaceae with an MIC value of 2.5 μg/mL. All the data were recorded in triplicates. Allium cepa assay revealed minor genotoxicity with mitotic index, MI= 27.70%; chromosome aberration, A= 1.1% of C. caesia rhizome essential oil.

Conclusion: C. caesia rhizome essential oil possesses potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties with negligible genotoxicity. Hence, the present study is highly significant for the utilization of rhizome of C. caesia, a high-value ethnopharmacological plant for advanced R & D and commercial application.