Chemical Characterization of Rosmarinus officinalis L.Hydrodistillation of By-Products, Evaluating Their Antioxidant, and Anticancer Activities

Abstract

Essential oils derived from Mediterranean plants are widely used; nevertheless, the hydrodistillation waste produced with these oils are relatively unexplored and underutilized. With only partial data available in the literature, we analysed the chemical composition of byproducts from hydrodistilled rosemary leaves. The solid residue of rosemary by-product (RSB) was extracted using 80% ethanol. The extract was tested for antioxidant activity and demonstrated a high effect. The overall phenolic content was 188 mg GAE/g, whereas the flavonoid content was 12 mg QE/g. caffeic acid (31.2%), naringenin (27.8%), apigenin (7.39%), hesperetin (5.06%), and coumaric acid (3.94%) were the most common components of RSB. the inhibitory concentration that inhibits 50% of the cancer cell population (IC50) for the cytotoxic action of RSB extract against HCT 116 (human colon) and PC3 (human prostate) cancer cell lines at varied concentrations (31.25-1000 µg/mL) was 31.4 µg/mL for HCT 116 and 33.4 µg/mL for PC3.We conclude that the solid residue of rosemary by-product leaves exhibits significant potential in the development of phyto-medicines with anticancer properties. Drugs derived from rosemary solid by-product (RSB) could serve as an alternative medicinal source due to their anticancer activity. Furthermore, this study suggests that the ethanol extract of this by-product possesses the greatest potential for anticancer activity against (HCT 116) Human colon and human Prostate (PC3) cancer cell lines.