In the current findings, the essential oils (EOs) from Boswellia sacra (Burseraceae) plant's stem (BSS) and leaves (BSL) are analyzed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the first time, and their multiple biological properties were evaluated. Fifty-four (54) compounds were identified in both parts, containing 93.24% of the stem (BSS) and 97.76% of the leaf (BSL) oils. The highest amount of t-muurolol was found in leaf oil (17.41 ± 1.58%), while t-cadinol was the second abundant compound found in leaves (12.96 ± 1.02%). Significant potential was shown by leaves' oil having IC50 of 88.7 ± 0.36 µg/mL than stem (IC50 = 92.2 ± 0.48) against breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells. Significant antidiabetic potential was observed by stem's EO (IC50 = 1.54 ± 0.10 µg/mL), followed by leaves (IC50 = 2.06 ± 0.13 µg/mL), while the stem (IC50 = 77.08 ± 1.15 µg/mL) exhibited higher human carbonic anhydrase-II (CA-II) inhibitory activity than leaves (99.93 ± 1.36). Furthermore, the stem oil showed significant antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida krusei with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 4.168 ± 0.24 mg/mL and 16.675 ± 0.46 mg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the binding modes of common compounds found in the stem and leaf oils were forecasted at the molecular level by docking them into the binding site of α-glucosidase and CA-II anhydrase, which correlates with the in vitro results. The predicted physicochemical profiling of the scaffolds further reflects their acceptable properties, which depict their ability to become drug-like candidates.
Qayum et al. (Sun,) studied this question.