Abstract:
The essential oil from rhizomes of Curcuma alismatifolia Gagnep. was extracted by hydrodistillation. Chemical analysis by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry identified 12 compounds, of which the most prominent were xanthorrhizol (82.2%), ar-curcumene (6.5%), α-cedrene (1.8%), and β-bisabolol (1.1%). The essential oil at 1 ng/mL showed neuroprotective and neuritogenic activity on P19-derived neurons by significantly enhancing cell viability, length, and branching numbers of the cultured P19-derived neurons. In addition, xanthorrhizol, the major compound of the essential oil, at 10 ng/mL also exhibited the protection of P19-derived neurons. However, the mechanism of their neuroprotective activity was not correlated with their antioxidant activity. © The Author(s) 2019.