Volatile constituents and antioxidant activity of flowers, stems and leaves of Nasturtium officinale R. Br.

GC-MS analyses of the essential oils of leaves, stems and flower of Nasturtium officinale resulted in the identification of 9, 8 and 15 compounds, representing 97%, 100% and 94.7% of the oils, respectively. The main compounds of the oil of leaves were myristicin (57.6%), α-terpinolene (8.9%) and limonene (6.7%). Caryophyllene oxide (37.2%), p-cymene-8-ol (17.6%), α-terpinolene (15.2%) and limonene (11.8%) were the main components in stems, whereas limonene (43.6%), α-terpinolene (19.7%), p-cymene-8-ol (7.6%) and caryophyllene oxide (6.7%) were the major constituents in the oil of flowers. All the samples were subjected to a screening for their possible antioxidant activities using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene-linoleic acid assays. In the above tests, methanol extracts of leaves showed higher antioxidant activity than the oils and methanol extracts of stems and flowers.