Antioxidants Melaleuca

Other assays have been used to evaluate the antioxidant activity against H202 of several plant-based products, namely, fruit juices from different cultivars of berries (Wang and Jiao 2000), fractions rich in phenolics isolated from the aqueous by-products obtained during the milling of oil palm fruits (Balasundram and others 2005), cherry laurel fruit and its concentrated juice (Liyana-Pathirana and others 2006), and strawberries and blackberries treated with methyl jasmonate, allyl isothiocyanate, essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia, and ethanol (Chanjirakul and others 2007). 

In many cases, the antioxidant activity of the EOs could not be attributed to the major compounds, and minor compounds might play a significant role in the antioxidant activity, and synergistic effects were reported [158, 171, 176]. For instance, in Melaleuca species, EO containing 1,8-cineole (34%) and ter-pinen-4ol (19%) exhibited stronger antioxidant activity than those with high methyleugenol (97%) or 1,8-cineole (64.30%) contents [138]. 

Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) is a native genus of Australia and has found widespread use in medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Essential oils extracted by steam distillation from Melaleuca species are mostly composed of 1,8-cineole, a-pinene, P pinene, and terpinen-4-ol, and they possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Melaleuca oil is a commercial name for oil extracted from leaves of Melaleuca armillaris Sm. with 1,8-cineole (85.8%) as main compound, followed by camphene and a-pinene as constituents also in major concentrations, but to a lower extent. This oil showed a better effect on radical scavenging in the ABTS than in the DPPH assay. Vitamin C was a reference with a higher antioxidant activity for ABTS and DPPH assays (Chabir et al., 2011). 

Pino et al. (2010) investigated the chemical composition and antioxidant features of leaf and fruit essential oil of Melaleuca lucandendra L. GC-MS revealed 41 volatile compounds for the leaf oil, where the main compounds were 1,8-cineole (43.0%), a-pinene (5.3%), a-terpineol (7.0%), limonene (4.8%), and viridi orol (24.2%), while for fruit oil, 64 compounds were identi ed with viridi orol (47.6%) as the most present compound, followed by globulol (5.8%), guaiol (5.3%), and a-pinene (4.5%) also as major compounds. 

Chabir, N., M. Romdhane, A. Valentin et al., 2011. Chemical study and antimalarial. antioxidant and anticancer activities of Melaleuca armillaris (Sol Ex Gateau) Sm essential oil. 14(11) 1383-1388. 

Vitamin E is a natural antioxidant, which occurs in the plasma red cells and tissues, disarms the free radicals, and anticipates the peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and phospholipids. Also vitamin C is one of the naturally occurring antioxidants, which actually increase the efficiency of vitamin E to avoid the lipid peroxidation. SOD protects the cells of hydrogen peroxide anion free radicals, furnishes the decrease of the catalase which decomposes H2O2, thus yielding a reduction of the oxidative process. This research shows that the EO of Melaleuca armillaris, which has 1,8-cineole as the major chemical compound, can be used as a suppressor for free radicals and is able to avoid damages caused by oxidative stress generated by chemical or physical factors. 

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