Chemical constituents, antimicrobial investigations and antioxidative potential of volatile oil and acetone extract of star anise fruits

Abstract GC and GC‐MS analysis of fruit volatile oil of star anise ( Illicium verum Hook) showed the presence of 25 components which account for the 99.9% of the total amount. The major components were trans ‐anethole (94.37%), methyl chevicol (1.82%) and cis ‐anethole (1.59%). 15 Components were identified from its acetone extract accounting for 80.27% of the total amount. trans ‐Anethole (51.81%) was found as a major component along with linoleic acid (11.6%), 1‐(4‐methoxyphenyl)‐prop‐2‐one (6.71%), foeniculin (5.29%) and palmitic acid (1.47%). Using an inverted petriplate method, the volatile oil completely inhibited the growth of Fusarium moniliforme at 6 µl dose. In case of extract, 50% mycelial zone inhibition was obtained for Penicillium citrinum and Penicillium viridicatum . Moreover, using food poison technique, the volatile oil was found to be effective for controlling the growth of F. moniliforme and Aspergillus niger whereas the extract has been found to be highly effective for Aspergillus flavus. In antibacterial investigations, using agar well diffusion method, the extract has shown better activity for Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus in comparison with volatile oil and commercial bactericide, ie Ampicillin. However, volatile oil has shown better activity for Salmonella aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis. Moreover, the extract has shown excellent activity for the inhibition of primary and secondary oxidation products in rapeseed oil which were evaluated using peroxide, thiobarbituric acid, p ‐anisidine and carbonyl values. The activity of extract was further confirmed using other antioxidant properties such as ferric thiocyanate method in linoleic acid system, reducing power and scavenging effect (%) on 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) radical. Hence, the extract could be considered as natural antioxidant which may be used for chemoprevention of diseases occurring due to oxidative deterioration. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry