Assessing Teucrium polium L. from chemical profiling to antioxidant, anticancer, α-amylase, and lipase activities

Teucrium polium L, known as felty germander or Palestinian Ja'adeh, primarily flourishes in Mediterranean countries such as Palestine, Jordan, and Turkey. There has been a significant increase in the investigation and analysis of essential oils derived from medicinal plants due to their potential biological and therapeutic applications. This study will investigate the chemical composition of essential oil derived from the dried leaves of T. polium L. and evaluate its in vitro antioxidant, anticancer, α-amylase, and lipase inhibitory properties. The essential oil extracted from the dried leaves of T. polium L. via hydrodistillation was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine their chemical composition. Sixteen compounds were identified in the essential oil of T. polium L., with E-nerolidol (27.11%), geranyl acetone (23.26%), germacrene D (19.08%), β-caryophyllene (17.78%), α-caryophyllene (3.35%), and bicyclogermacrene (3.08%) constitute the principal components. This essential oil, abundant in oxygenated sesquiterpenes, demonstrated notable antioxidant activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) at a concentration of 20.08 ± 1.00 µg/mL. Furthermore, it exhibited significant anticancer effectiveness against the MCF-7 and B16F10 cell lines, with IC₅₀ values recorded at 30.56 µg/mL and 32.75 µg/mL, respectively. Nevertheless, it demonstrated restricted lipase activity and insufficient α-amylase activity. The findings suggest that T. polium L. essential oil is a potential source of natural antioxidants and has anticancer properties, making it a viable candidate for pharmaceutical and cosmetic use.