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. 2021 May 29;21(1):159.
doi: 10.1186/s12906-021-03324-z.

Biological evaluation of Safrole oil and Safrole oil Nanoemulgel as antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer

Ahmad M Eid  1 , Mohammed Hawash  2
Affiliations

Biological evaluation of Safrole oil and Safrole oil Nanoemulgel as antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer

Ahmad M Eid et al. BMC Complement Med Ther. .

Abstract

Background: Safrole is a natural compound extracted from various plants, and has shown various biological activities. The current study aimed to investigate the antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, and anticancer activity of safrole oil and to study the influence of safrole nanoemulgel on these activities.

Methods: The antioxidant and antidiabetic in-vitro assays were conducted using standard biomedical methods. The safrole oil nanoemulgel was developed using a self-emulsifying technique. Then the antimicrobial activity of the safrole oil and safrole nanoemulgel were performed on different microbial species, and cytotoxicity was determined against Hep3B cancer cell lines using the MTS assay.

Results: Safrole oil showed moderate antioxidant activity compared with standard Trolox, with IC50 value 50.28 ± 0.44 and 1.55 ± 0.32 μg/ml, respectively. Moreover, it had potent α-amylase inhibitory activity (IC50 11.36 ± 0.67 μg/ml) compared with Acarbose (IC50 value 5.88 ± 0.63). The safrole nanoemulgel had pseudo-plastic behaviour, droplet sizes below 200 nm, a polydispersity index (PDI) below 0.3, and a zeta potential of less than - 30 mV. Safrole oil has potential antimicrobial and anticancer activities, and these activities were improved with safrole nanoemulgel.

Conclusion: The safrole oil may be applied for the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress, diabetes, different microbial species and cancer, and these activities could be improved by nano-carriers.

Keywords: Anticancer and Nanoemulgel; Antidiabetic; Antimicrobial; Antioxidant; Safrole oil.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Antioxidant activity of Trolox and safrole oil
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The results of α-amylase inhibition for the acarbose standard and safrole oil
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Ternary-phase diagrams of the safrole oil nanoemulsion constructed with A) Tween 80 and Span 80 and B) Tween 20 and Span 80
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
a Droplet size and b polydispersity index (PDI) of the initial safrole oil nanoemulsion and the safrole oil nanoemulgel formulations containing different concentrations of Carbopol 940 (0.4, 0.6, 0.8%)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Mean zeta potential of the safrole oil nanoemulgel formulations containing different Carbopol 940 concentrations
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Rheological behaviour of different safrole oil nanoemulgel formulations
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
%age of cancer cell inhibition of safrole nanoemulgel vs safrole oil
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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