Unveiling the essential oil composition and bioactivities of Piper frustratum Boerl.

This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition, and anticholinesterase and anti-tyrosinase activities of the essential oil extracted from the leaves of Piper frustratum Boerl., growing in Malaysia. Nineteen chemical components were identified using gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), accounting for 99.6 % of the essential oil. The identified major components include β-caryophyllene (12.6 %), β-asarone (10.7 %), myristicin (10.4 %), α-copaene (9.6 %), methyl eugenol (7.2 %), and β-cubebene (6.5 %). Anticholinesterase activity was assessed using the Ellman’s method, while anti-tyrosinase activity was evaluated against mushroom tyrosinase. The essential oil demonstrated moderate inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase (IC 50 value of 84.2 μg/mL), butyrylcholinesterase (IC 50 value of 98.5 μg/mL), and tyrosinase (IC 50 value of 95.4 μg/mL) enzymes. This study is the first to report the chemical composition and bioactivities of the essential oil obtained from P. frustratum , which may have implications on the characterization, pharmaceutical, and therapeutic applications of Piper essential oils.