Chemical compositions and biological activities of the essential oils from gamma irradiated celery (Apium graveolens L.) seeds

Abstract

Celery seed oils can help in detoxification processes of the body as it facilitates the elimination of toxins and other harmful substances out of the body. This study aimed to assess biological activity of essential oils extracted from un-irradiated and irradiated celery seeds by gamma rays. Celery seeds were irradiated with different dose levels of gamma radiation; control, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 kGy. The highest increase of essential oil extracted was registered with a dosage level of 10.0 kGy (2.42%). The GC-MS analysis showed that, there were new compounds detected in the irradiated samples and others compounds were increased or decreased. The FTIR spectra showed alterations in functional groups of essential oils extracted from celery seeds upon gamma-irradiation. Total phenols, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity increased proportional to the increase in the irradiation dose level and the maximum increase obtained in the irradiation dose level 10.0 kGy. This may be an evidence on the biological value, there were anticancer activity against 2 cell lines, breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and lung cancer cell line (A549). The best IC50 in A549 was 145 µg/ml in sample with irradiation dose level 5.0 kGy while the best IC50 in MCF-7 was 124 µg/ml in irradiated sample with dose 5.0 kGy. Also, the highest inhibition zone of S. aureus, B. subtilis and K. pneumoniae were obtained with the oil extracted from seeds irradiated with 5 kGy dose level, where E. coli and C. albicans were more pronounced for the oil gotten from the seeds irradiated with 10.0 kGy. The irradiation process for celery seeds may be promising for biological value of celery oils.