Multifaceted in-vitro and in-silico evaluation of Pimenta racemosa (Mill.) essential oil: A potential alternative source of eugenol

Pimenta racemosa, commonly known as West Indian bay leaf, contains a significant amount of eugenol, a potent phenolic compound in its essential oil. In this study, a comprehensive biological study of P. racemosa leaf essential oil (PRLEO), eugenol and standard drugs was performed. Meanwhile, in-silico was carried out against the molecular targets for eugenol, the major compound of PRLEO . The PRLEO was chemically profiled via GC-MS and GC-FID analysis, where eugenol content was higher, with an area sum of 65.54 %. The study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities of PRLEO compared to the standard drugs and standard eugenol. PRLEO demonstrated significant antioxidant activity for DPPH and ABTS assay with an IC 50 value of 16.43 µg/mL and 11.09 µg/mL for PRLEO and 17.17 µg/mL and 11.20 µg/mL for eugenol standard, respectively. The antidiabetic assay revealed an IC 50 value of 21.51 µg/mL in PRLEO and an IC 50 value of 23.88 µg/mL for the eugenol standard. The anti-inflammatory activity of PRLEO showed an IC 50 value of 20.20 µg/mL, which was preferable to its standard eugenol with an IC 50 value of 22.71 µg/mL. The current study showed good antimicrobial activity against bacterial strains compared to fungal strains. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) further confirmed that PRLEO showed lysis and distortion of bacterial cells. The genotoxicity study of PRLEO was evaluated for its toxicity. Additionally, in-silico studies revealed that eugenol compounds achieved strong docking scores and demonstrated significant binding interactions with antimicrobial targets. Overall, PRLEO represents a promising and newly identified source of eugenol with potential applications across various industries and pharmacological domains. • Pimenta racemosa is an important medicinal aromatic species. • Chemical screening, pharmacological efficacy and antimicrobial activity tested. • The genotoxicity test of essential oil was tested for the first time. • Molecular docking is done to investigate eugenol's binding interaction pattern.