Antiproliferative evaluation of the hydro-distilled oil of celery, coriander, dill, and fennel and chemometric analysis of their aroma profile

Main pharmacological activities observed with the aromatic herbs celery, coriander, dill, and fennel have been attributed primarily to their essential oils, obtained by hydro-distillation. Still, there is a lack in research on the flavor of these selected four aromatic plants with multiple biological activities. The current study sought to identify and quantify the chemical composition of the spontaneous emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of their fresh leaves, and to statistically analyze their composition using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchial cluster analysis (HCA). In vitro cytotoxic activities of their hydro-distilled essential oils were evaluated against MCF-7 and HCT-116 cell lines using MTT assay. The emitted VOCs, captured by solid phase micro extraction (SPME) method were analyzed by GC/GC-MS. The main terpenoid components of the aroma profile of celery and coriander were limonene, that of dill alpha-phellandrene, and of fennel alpha-terpinene. The systematic analysis using both, HCA and PCA of the spontaneous emitted VOCs of the fresh leaves of the four Apiaceae members growing in Jordan, revealed a clear picture of the distinct odor of these edible aromatic plants. The hydro-distilled essential oil of fennel exhibited the best antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 and HCT-116 cell lines with respective IC50's of 0.35, and 0.42 mg/mL. The composition of the VOCs of the leaves of celery, coriander, dill, and fennel, growing in Jordan was determined for the first time, in addition to their antiproliferative activities.