Revalorizing ancient herbs in Egyptian modern deserts: A functional study on Origanum syriacum essential oils
2025
Ahmed Hamid Morsy Ziena | Hamid Morsy Ziena | Micheline Wehbe
This study investigates the potential of Origanum syriacum L., a plant native to Egypt’s Saint Catherine Sinai nature reserves, as a natural source of phytochemicals. For the first time, this species was successfully cultivated under desert conditions on the American Egyptian Lebanese Company for Herbs (AELC) Farm in the Wadi El Natrun region. Essential oils were extracted from the plant’s leaves, stems, and aerial parts and subsequently analyzed for yield, physical properties, and chemical composition. The antioxidant activity of the oils was evaluated using five different assays: DPPH (expressed as % inhibition and IC₅₀), FRAP (reported as TEAC in mmol/L), ferrous ion-chelating (FIC % inhibition), TBARS (expressed as % inhibition and IC₅₀), and the Rancimat method (as Antioxidant Activity Index, AAI). The results revealed a high essential oil yield, with GC-MS analysis identifying 20, 18, and 19 chemical compounds in aerial part of the plant,leaves, and stems, respectively, predominantly thymol and carvacrol. Interestingly, the stems exhibited a higher thymol content, whereas the leaves showed nearly equal concentrations of thymol and carvacrol. All samples demonstrated significant antioxidant activity across all tested methods, highlighting the plant’s potential as a valuable source of natural antioxidants.
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