The Potential Antioxidant Mechanism of Essential Oils extracted from Cupressus sempervirens grown in Saudi Arabia | ||||
| Egyptian Journal of Chemistry | ||||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 24 August 2025 | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejchem.2025.380699.11678 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
Radhouane Chakroun  
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| Department of Environment, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, King Abdulaziz University | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This study examined the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils (EOs) obtained from Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis grown in Abha region of Saudi Arabia. Essential oils (EOs) were isolated by hydro-distillation and characterized by GC-MS and GC-FID, revealing 88 compounds, among which α-pinene (35.1%) and δ-3-carene (25.5%) were the major components. The EO was assessed for antioxidant capacity in vitro by means of radical scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS, which showed a significant scavenging activity with IC50 values as low as 0.352 mg/mL and TEAC values greater than that of BHT, a synthetic antioxidant. To better describe the mechanism behind antioxidant activity, an in silico molecular docking study was carried out using NADPH oxidase (2CDU) as the target protein. Among these EO components, Germacrene-D, Cedrol, and Terpinen-4-ol were identified as having the best ∆G values, with hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions all contributing to their strong binding affinities. These results highlight the potential for C. sempervirens EO to act as a natural antioxidant and a promising alternative to synthetic compounds in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Cupressus sempervirens; Essential oil; Composition; Antioxidative activity; molecular docking | ||||
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