Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Antiglycation and Antioxidant Activities and HPTLC Analysis of Boswellia sacra Oleogum Resin: The Sacred Frankincense

Ahmed Al-Harrasi¹ , Liaqat Ali¹, Eliezer Ceniviva², Ahmed Al-Rawahi¹, Javid Hussain¹, Hidayat Hussain¹, Najeeb ur Rehman¹, Ghulam Abbas^1,3, Rashid Al-Harrasi¹

¹Department of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nizwa, Birkat Al-Mauz, Nizwa 616, Sultanate of Oman; ²CAMAG Laboratory, Sonnenmattstrasse. 11, 4132 Muttenz, Switzerland; ³COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbotabad Campus, Abbotabad-22060, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- Ahmed Al-Harrasi Email: aharrasi@unizwa.edu.om Tel:+96892828487

Received: 17 July 2012 Accepted: 4 June 2013 Published: 23 August 2013

Citation: Al-Harrasi A, Ali L, Ceniviva E, Al-Rawahi A, Hussain J, Hussain H, et al. Antiglycation and Antioxidant Activities and HPTLC Analysis of Boswellia sacra Oleogum Resin: The Sacred Frankincense. Trop J Pharm Res 2013; 12(4):597-602 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v12i4.23

© 2013 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate antiglycation and antioxidant activities as undertake HPTLC analysis of Boswellia sacra resin.

Methods: Sub-fractionation of the crude methanol extract of Hougari regular (HR) grade resin of Boswellia sacra was carried out by vacuum liquid chromatography. Free radical scavenging and anti-glycation activities of sub-fractions were characterized in order to assess their anti-aging properties. Furthermore, high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis of Boswellia sacra resins was also carried out.

Results: Polar fractions of the extract obtained exhibited the highest antiglycation activity while non-polar fractions showed more than 50 % inhibition in superoxide anion scavenging assay. Scavenging activity of reactive oxygen species results indicate that non-polar sub-fractions showed > 50 % inhibition, except Shabi frankincense (SF) oil which showed 33 % inhibition. Dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂) fraction, 40 % dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂)/n-hexane sub-fraction, and SF oil showed moderate activity in di(phenyl)-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)iminoazanium (DPPH) assay. Furthermore, HPTLC analysis indicates the presence of 11-keto-β-boswellic acid (KBA) and 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) along with some other terpenoids.

Conclusion: Various sub-fractions of Boswellia sacra exert effective antiglycation and antioxidant activities. The extracts should be studied further for possible formulation into pharmaceutical products.

Keywords: Frankincense, Boswellia sacra, Terpenoids, HPTLC, Antioxidant, Antiglycation