A STUDY ON PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF ESSENTIAL OIL SEPARATED FROM FRESH BERRIES OF CINNAMOMUM RIPARIUM BY STEAM DISTILLATION TECHNIQUE

Cinnamomum riparium Gamble belongs to the family Lauraceae is a red listed species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is a tree growing in evergreen forests and traditionally used for treating conditions like wound healing, fever, intestinal worms, headache, inflammations, menstrual problems etc. According to tribal’s, this activity is mainly due to the volatile oil present in it. But as per published reports much works have not been carried out so far using its volatile oil. Hence it was thought worth to do the research work on this plant. Berries were collected from Paniyeli poru, near Periyar river, Ernakulam District, latitude 10.1720° N and longitude76.5959° E Kerala, India. Berry essential oil was separated by steam distillation technique by using a Clevenger trap apparatus. Separated berry essential oil was used for evaluating the physical and chemical properties including therapeutic activity (antioxidant activity) using DPPH scavenging assays. The berry oil exhibited 76.45% of antioxidant activity. The oil was subjected to GC-MS analysis. The main constituents present in the berry oil were γ–elemene, 1,3-benzodioxol, eugenol  and caryophyllene. As it is a red listed plant it become very important to preserve the plant for further studies and for the future generations to make use of its valuable medicinal properties for the humanity. The present study gave a high degree of evidence and encouragements to demonstrate the plant’s promising health benefits.