GC-MS analysis of the essential oil composition and antioxidant activity of Perovskia abrotanoides Kar. from different growth stages

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in the chemical composition of essential oils (EO) and the correlation between some secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity of different plant parts of Perovskia abrotanoides Kar. at the vegetative and flowering stages in Vamnan (Iran) in 2018. The EO of this plant was analyzed using the GC-Mass Spectrometry method. As the findings showed, P. abrotanoides leaf, during the flowering stage, had a greater amount of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and anthocyanins than other parts and even the vegetative stage. At the flowering stage, the maximum antioxidant activity was obtained in the leaf (69.10%), based on the DPPH method. During the vegetative stage, the root was also in the next rank (62.10%). In this research, aerial parts of P. abrotanoides were different in terms of EO composition percentage and retention time. Likewise, 21 and 26 constitutes were identified during the vegetative and flowering stages, respectively. The major constitute was Carotol (31.105%) at the flowering stage, where IR-alpha-pinene (0.268%) had the lowest value. Overall, the results showed that P. abrotanoides can be introduced as an important source of natural antioxidant for pharmaceutical and natural food supplements due to its acceptable amount of bioactive compounds such as phenolic, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and EO.