Aroma profile, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of cinnamomum camphora L. essential oil as affected by various drying techniques

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of drying on the aroma profile and bioactivity of Cinnamomum camphora L. leaf. Clevenger was used to extract essential oils and were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to visualize the variance in the aroma profile. These oils were tested for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential. Fresh oil was found to be rich in camphor, limonene, alpha-pinene and myrcene. Camphor, limonene and alpha-pinene were the major constituents of all the oils under different drying conditions. The content of camphor increased significantly upon drying. Shade drying could be used as the most prominent drying method for C. camphora L. as it was found to have the highest camphor content (67.30 %), essential oil yield (0.34 %) and in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity potential (IC50: 7.46 mu g mL-1). Monoterpene hydrocarbons might be responsible for the antioxidant activity.