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Antiglycation and Antioxidant Activities and HPTLC Analysis of <i>Boswellia sacra</i> Oleogum Resin: The Sacred Frankincense


A Al-Harrasi
L Ali
E Ceniviva
A Al-Rawahi
J Hussain
H Hussain
NU Rehman
G Abbas
R Al-Harrasi

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate antiglycation and antioxidant activities as undertake HPTLC analysis of Boswellia sacra resin.
Methods: Sub-fractionation of the crude methanol extract of Hougari regular (HR) grade resin of Boswellia sacra was carried out by vacuum liquid chromatography. Free radical scavenging and antiglycation activities of sub-fractions were characterized in order to assess their anti-aging properties. Furthermore, high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis of Boswellia sacra resins was also carried out.
Results: Polar fractions of the extract obtained exhibited the highest antiglycation activity while nonpolar fractions showed more than 50 % inhibition in superoxide anion scavenging assay. Scavenging activity of reactive oxygen species results indicate that non-polar sub-fractions showed > 50 % inhibition, except Shabi frankincense (SF) oil which showed 33 % inhibition. Dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) fraction, 40 % dichloromethane (CH2Cl2)/n-hexane sub-fraction, and SF oil showed moderate activity in di(phenyl)-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)iminoazanium (DPPH) assay. Furthermore, HPTLC analysis indicates the presence of 11-keto-β-boswellic acid (KBA) and 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) along with some other terpenoids.
Conclusion: Various sub-fractions of Boswellia sacra exert effective antiglycation and antioxidant activities. The extracts should be studied further for possible formulation into pharmaceutical products.

Keywords: Frankincense, Boswellia sacra, Terpenoids, HPTLC, Antioxidant, Antiglycation


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1596-9827
print ISSN: 1596-5996