Essential Oil From Tetrapanax papyrifer (Hook.) K. Koch: Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Activity, α‐Glucosidase Inhibitory Effect Integrating Molecular Docking Analysis

ABSTRACT This study investigated the chemical composition of essential oil from Tetrapanax papyrifer and evaluated its antioxidant and anti‐α‐glucosidase activity. A total of 61 essential oil compounds from T. papyrifer were identified by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) and gas chromatography‐flame ionization detector (GC‐FID). The essential oil is rich in sesquiterpenoids (96.05%), with major components identified as β‐cubebene (13.96%), caryophyllene (13.43%), α‐cubebene (12.12%), copaene (7.89%), δ ‐cadinene (7.29%), eremophilene (6.15%), humulene (5.26%). The essential oil showed dose‐dependent antioxidant activity with IC 50 values of 723.15 ± 24.10 and 200.74 ± 9.90 µg/mL for 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'‐azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays, respectively. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) antioxidant capacity was 222.73 ± 25.49 µmol/g. The essential oil exhibited a 17.86% ± 0.56% inhibitory effect against α‐glucosidase at 500 µg/mL. Moreover, in silico molecular docking analyses were utilized to validate the in vitro anti‐α‐glucosidase results further.