Phytochemical profiling and wound healing properties of essential oil isolated from Rosmarinus officinalis aerial parts: GC/MS analysis and in vitro studies

Abstract

Owing to the new applications of natural oils in various skincare formulations, this research gives an overview on the use of rosemary essential oil (EO) as antioxidant and antiaging agents and examines its wound healing ability. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis was performed for rosemary EO obtained from two different forms of rosemary (fresh and dry) and prepared by two different extraction methods (hydro-distillation and solvent extraction using a non-polar solvent). In vitro antioxidant property was analyzed using the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, and in vitro antiaging activity analysis involved assaying the hyaluronidase, collagenase, elastase and tyrosinase inhibitions for the isolated EOs along with a chemometric analysis. Results revealed the presence of various classes of volatile compounds in different percentages. Besides, the chemometric analysis based on the GC/MS profile revealed a great similarity between both fresh and dry rosemary EO obtained by the hydro-distillation method in contrast to that obtained by solvent extraction. The antioxidant assay showed potent activity of both fresh and dry rosemary EO obtained by solvent extraction, equivalent to 208.12 ± 20.02 and 27.56 ± 1.02 µM Trolox eq/mg sample, respectively. However, those obtained by hydro-distillation showed much lower activity with no significant differences. The rosemary EOs obtained through hydro-distillation from both fresh and dried samples showed higher efficacy in in vitro antiaging assays. In addition, cytotoxicity evaluation and an in vitro scratch assay using human skin fibroblast (HSF) cells were performed to assess the wound healing activity. All rosemary essential oils exhibited no cytotoxic activity; however, rosemary EOs extracted by hydro-distillation displayed higher wound-healing potential than those prepared by hexane extraction. These results proved the promising use of rosemary EO in skincare formulations due to its multifaceted beneficial properties, considering it as a good candidate for the management of age-related conditions such as skin wrinkles.