Chemical Components and Biological Activities of the Essential Oil from Traditional Medicinal Food, Euryale ferox Salisb., Seeds

The present study, for the first time, describes the chemical composition, antioxidant, cytotoxic, and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitory activities of essential oil from the seeds of Euryale ferox Salisb. (Gordon euryale). The essential oil was isolated by steam distillation and characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. A total of 37 components were identified in the oil, accounting for 100.0 % of the total oil. The main constituents of the oil were butylated hydroxytoluene (38.7 %), palmitic acid (11.0 %), linoleic acid (9.0 %), -tocopherol (5.2 %), hexanoic acid (3.9 %), -tocopherol (3.5 %). In brine shrimp bioassay, the oil showed excellent toxicity with LC50 value of 11.48 +/- 0.51 g/ml. Significant antioxidant capacity was evident in DPPH (IC50 = 6.27 +/- 0.31 g/ml) and ABTS (IC50 = 2.19 +/- 0.61 g/ml) assay. Besides, the oil showed moderate inhibitory activity against PTP1B (IC50 = 83.34 +/- 2.07 g/ml). It is concluded that the essential oil is an important substance basis for health and medicine potency of Gordon euryale seeds.