Microemulsions enhance shelf-life and processability of Smyrnium olusatrum L. essential oil

Smyrnium olusatrum, is a horticultural crop cultivated during the Roman age for culinary and curative uses. The essential oil extracted from this plant (AEO) is rich of bioactive constituents such as isofuranodiene and germacrone. Several studies revealed that AEO and its isolated components possess interesting therapeutics features, such as antiproliferative, neuritogenic, hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties. Nevertheless, AEO shows stability problems due to the high concentration of its main components. This issue makes AEO very difficult to handle and use. Thus, AEO was formulated as microemulsions known for their thermodynamic stability and easiness of preparation. AEO was hydrodistilled from inflorescences of S. olusatrum and its composition determined by different chromatographic methods. The microemulsions were developed using a central composite design and their activity tested by MTT assay. This work demonstrated the possibility to formulate stable AEO microemulsions where the crystallization of isofuranodiene is avoided and the AEO biological activity is maintained.