Isolation of Nutmeg Essential Oil (Myristica fragrans houtt) From Aceh Indonesia and Their Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

Abstract

This study aims to isolate the nutmeg essential oil (Myristica fragrans Houtt) from Aceh Indonesia and evaluate their biological activity. The antioxidant activity of the nutmeg essential oils (Myristica fragrans Houtt) was determined by DPPH (1,1-difenil-2-pikrihidrazil) assay. The DPPH assay showed that arillus essential oil (AMFH) has the highest antioxidant activity with the IC50 values was 216.695 ppm. The chemical composition of the AMFH was performed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS), and the results showed that AMFH contains Terpinen-4-ol (11.20%), α-Terpineol (1.83%), Safrole (5.10%) and Myristicin (27.80%). The AMFH was isolated by column chromatography and four fractions were obtained, namely AMFH1; AMFH2; AMFH3; and AMFH4 fractions. The DPPH assay showed that the AMFH3 fraction showed strong antioxidant activity with the IC50 values of 59.329 ppm. The AMFH3 fraction was then re-isolated by using column chromatography to obtain four sub fractions namely AMFH3A; AMFH3B; AMFH3C; and AMFH3D. The DPPH assay showed that the sub fraction of AMFH3A has the highest antioxidant activity with the IC50 values of 98.993 ppm. The antibacterial activity of AMFH3A sub fractions was evaluated by Kirby Bauer-Disc diffusion method, and the results showed that AMFH3A sub fraction showed activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus with the diameter inhibition of 14.28 mm and 12.26 mm respectively. The chemical composition of the AMFH3A sub fraction was performed by GC-MS, and the results showed that AMFH3A sub fraction contains Terpinen-4-ol (14.37%), α-Terpineol (2.16%), Safrole (7.36%) and Myristicin (54.77%).