In vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of green cardamom essential oil and in silico molecular docking of its major bioactives

Essential oil of Elettaria cardamomum (Green cardamom) is effective in the treatment of various disease conditions. Globally, Guatemala is the leading producer of green cardamom fruits. Green-cardamom fruits from Guatemala were purchased from a Saudi Arabian market. The Guatemala cardamom essential oil (GCEO) was extracted using hydro-distillation method, and analyzed using gaschromatography/ mass-spectrometry (GC-MS). The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were studied using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-hydrate, ferric-chloride, bovine serum-albumin and proteinase inhibitory assays. GC-MS results confirmed the presence of α- terpinyl acetate and 1,8-cineole as major components. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of GCEO were found to be significant compared with those of standard ascorbic acid and ibuprofen, respectively. The molecular-docking study revealed the considerable binding potential of α-terpinyl acetate and 1,8-cineole with human-peroxiredoxin-5, tyrosine-kinases and Human-5-LOX receptors. The in-silico activity prediction analysis confirmed the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential, whereas the pharmacokinetics confirmed the safety of most of the GCEO compounds.