CARACTERIZAÇÃO QUÍMICA DE ÓLEO DE CAPIM LIMÃO (Cymbopogon spp.) E AVALIAÇÃO DA ATIVIDADE ANTIOXIDANTE E TEOR DE COMPOSTOS FENÓLICOS TOTAIS

Abstract

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon spp.) is a plant widely used in traditional medicine and the food industry due to its therapeutic properties, especially those related to antioxidant activity. The objective of this study was to perform the chemical characterization of the essential oil extracted by hydrodistillation, as well as to evaluate the antioxidant activity and the total phenolic content of extracts obtained using different solvents: methanol, acetone, hexane, and petroleum ether. Characterization by GC–MS revealed a predominance of citral isomers (52.36%), in addition to other compounds such as geraniol, β-pinene/β-myrcene, and hexanedioic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester. Antioxidant activity was determined using the DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP methods, while total phenolic compounds were quantified using the Folin– Ciocalteu method. The results demonstrated that solvent polarity strongly influences the extraction of bioactive compounds. Methanol showed the best performance in all tests, achieving the highest values for phenolic compound extraction (307.56 ± 18.15 mg GAE/g extract) and high antioxidant capacity in the ABTS (28.64 ± 0.88 µmol Trolox/g extract) and FRAP (40.23 ± 0.69 µmol FeSO₄/g extract) assays. Hexane and petroleum ether, low-polarity solvents, showed the poorest performance. Thus, extraction with more polar solvents proved to be more efficient for compounds with a phenolic and antioxidant profile. The data obtained corroborate previous studies and reinforce the bioactive potential of lemongrass, as well as the importance of appropriate solvent selection in the extraction process.