Potential of Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) as bioactive ingredient and natural preserver
Artigo de Conferência
Visão geral
Visão geral
resumo
Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a much appreciated plant, both for culinary purposes and
for health treatments. It is used in many dishes and is also known for its properties as an
appetite stimulant, carminative, and diuretic. It is also used as a mouth wash to cure
inflammations. These bioactive properties could be correlated with its phenolic fraction. In
this work the polyphenols present in both the infusion and decoction of basil, detected
through HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS, are reported, along with the antitumor, antimicrobial and
antioxidant activities. Among the polyphenols, rosmarinic acid was the main phenolic acid,
and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside the main flavonoid. With regard to the antitumor properties,
five cell lines were tested (MCF7, NCI-H460, HeLa, HepG2). The infusion showed a
moderate activity against NCI-H460, HeLa and HepG2, while the decoction only showed
activity against HeLa and HepG2. None of the extracts showed hepatotoxicity for non-tumour
porcine liver cells (PLP2). In terms of antimicrobial activity, the results were very
interesting. Regarding the bacterial strains, both the decoction and iníüsion revealed
similar results, with Staphylococcus aureus, and Micrococcus flavus being the most
sensitive species, with minimum inhibitory concentrations lower for the extracts than the
positive controls. In terms of the antifungal activity both extracts were very effective
against Asperguulus ochraceus, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma viridae and Penicillium
ochrochloron with minimum inhibitory concentrations lower than the positive controls for
both extracts. Regarding the antioxidant activity, both the extracts yielded very similar
results, and the effects were as follows: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances inhibition
(TBARS) > reducing power > 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity
> (β-carotene bleaching inhibition. These results place basil as a very interesting matrix to
be added to foodstuffs due to its good taste, but also as a functional and/or preserver
ingredient, given its high antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Furthermore, our
research group is testing this plant as a functional ingredient and natural preserver in "Serra
da Estrela" cheese.
