Pelargonium graveolensL., (Geranium) essential oil from Northeast India: chemical composition, pharmacology and genotoxicity study

AbstractPelargonium graveolensL., essential oil (EO) has various therapeutic properties, including aromatherapy. The present experiment was designed to investigate chemical makeup of the P. graveolens(Geranium) EO from Northeast India using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID), and the pharmacological potential was determined using a range of assays along with Allium cepaassay for genotoxicity study. GC-MS analysis of the EO revealed the presence of 11 compounds with a total 97.43% identified area, with citronellol (32.84%), geraniol (23.62%), and citronellyl formate (12.14%) as the major compounds. The essential oil exhibited type-II anti-diabetic properties with an IC506.66 μL/mL and skin whitening potential IC50of 1.89 μL/mL. P. graveolensEO (IC5026.16 μL/mL) was found to possess comparatively weaker anti-inflammatory agent than the standard diclofenac (IC509.24 μL/mL) in the protease inhibitory test. The EO demonstrated moderate antioxidant activity with an IC50value of 22.68 μL/mL than ascorbic acid IC5012.53 μL/mL in the ABTS assay. The EO was found to moderately affect the mitotic index (15.32%) and induce chromosomal aberrations (11.40%) at a concentration of 1 μL/mL after 72 h of exposure. Based on the findings the Northeast Indian variety of P. graveolensEO exhibits promising type-II anti-diabetic and skin whitening properties, which could be further utilized in the formulation of anti-diabetic and skin whitening agents after validation through clinical trials.