Phytochemical Fingerprinting, Essential Oil Chemical Profiling, and In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Ocimum gratissimum Leaves

International Journal of Chemistry | Vol. 4, No. 12, December 2013 | pp. 89–96

DOI: 10.46882/2013/IJC/000063

Article Type: Original Research Paper

Title: Phytochemical Fingerprinting, Essential Oil Chemical Profiling, and In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Ocimum gratissimum Leaves

Names of Authors: S. A. Abdulrahman¹, C. A. Rossi²*

Authors’ Affiliations:
¹Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria.
²Department of Pharmacy, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.

Abstract: Ocimum gratissimum is heavily utilized in traditional medicine across developing countries to manage metabolic diseases, yet its volatile profile requires deep chemical mapping to clarify its therapeutic potential. This investigation reports the qualitative phytochemical screening, essential oil analysis via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), and in vitro cytotoxicity profiling of hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol leaf extracts. Qualitative tests revealed an abundance of terpenoids, flavonoids, and saponins concentrated majorly within the semi-polar ethyl acetate fraction. Essential oils gathered via hydro-distillation in a Clevenger apparatus were separated into 18 distinct peaks through GC-MS, with eugenol (42.5%), thymol (18.2%), and cis-ocimene (12.4%) emerging as the primary bioactive constituents. The cytotoxic potential was evaluated in vitro against human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines using the MTT assay, benchmarked against cisplatin. The ethyl acetate extract displayed significant cytotoxic activity with an IC50 value of 28.4 μg/mL, compared to 5.2 μg/mL achieved by the standard control. A linear correlation was observed between total phenolic content and cancer cell mortality, validating that eugenol and related plant phenolics drive free radical scavenging and apoptotic inductions, supporting further clinical investigation.

Keywords: Ocimum gratissimum; Essential oils; GC-MS analysis; Eugenol; Cytotoxicity; MTT assay

Manuscript Timeline: Received: February 12, 2013; Revised: March 24, 2013; Accepted: May 11, 2013; Published: December 02, 2013.

Citation: Abdulrahman, S. A., & Rossi, C. A. (2013). Phytochemical Fingerprinting, Essential Oil Chemical Profiling, and In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Ocimum gratissimum Leaves. International Journal of Chemistry, 4(12), 89–96.

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