Essential oils of Tunisian Lycium arabicum fruit and leaves: Phytochemical profiling and evaluation of antioxidant, antidiabetic and anti-obesity activities

Lycium species are widely used for food, feed, and medicinal purposes; yet the chemical composition and biological activities of their essential oils (EOs) remain largely unexplored. This study provides the first report on the chemical profile and bioactivities of EOs from the leaves and fruit of Lycium arabicum collected in Tunisia. GC-MS analysis identified verbenone (22.36%), camphor (21.47%), borneol (13.4%), thymol (11.2%), and 1,8-cineole (9.4%) as the main constituents of the leaves EO, while n-tridecanol (12.96%), loxanol (10.31%), aromadendrene (7.69%), and camphor (4.75%) predominated in the fruit EO. Both EOs exhibited potent antioxidant activity, assessed by DPPH, reducing power, and total antioxidant capacity assays, and displayed significant antidiabetic and anti-obesity effects, with IC50 values of 82.15 ± 1.35 μg/mL and 101.87 ± 1.15 μg/mL against α-amylase, and 95.71 ± 1.45 and 121.15±1.25 μg/mL against pancreatic lipase, for leaves and fruit, respectively. These results highlight L. arabicum EOs as potentially promising natural sources of bioactive compounds for pharmacological and nutraceutical applications.