Ballota saxatilis from Jordan: Evaluation of Essential Oil Composition and Phytochemical Profiling of Crude Extracts and Their In-Vitro Antioxidant Activity

The chemical composition of essential oil extracted from the aerial parts of Ballota saxatilis Sieber ex C.Presl from Jordan has been elucidated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Additionally, aqueous methanol (BsA), Butanol (BsB) and water (BsW) extracts were screened for their total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activities using the 2,2 Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) methods. The most potent extracts were screened for their phenolic acids and flavonoid content using liquid the chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technique. The results indicated that the essential oil predominantly contained cis-pinane (14.76%), β-caryophyllene (8.91%) and allo-aromadendrene epoxide (6.39%). Among the different extracts investigated, the BsB fraction had the most TPC and TFC (455.79 ± 1.03 µg gallic acid/g dry extract; 272.62 ± 8.28 µg quercetin/g dry extract, respectively) and had the best radical and radical cation scavenging activities, as determined using the DPPH and ABTS methods. Quantitative and qualitative LC-MS analyses of BsA and BsB using LC-MS revealed each of the kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (30.29%), chrysoeriol-7-glucoside (7.93%) and luteolin 7-o-glucoside (7.76%) as the main constituents of the BsA fraction. The BsB fraction was rich in 7,4′-dimethoxy-3-hydroxyflavone (34.68%), kaempferol-3,7,4′-trimethyl ether (29.17%) and corymbosin (9.66%) and lower concentration levels of kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (1.63%) and chrysoeriol-7-glucoside (0.51%).