Comparative Chemical and Bioactivity Profiling of Polar and Resinous Fractions of Yemeni Commiphora myrrha.
The oleo-gum resin of Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl. has been a cornerstone of traditional Yemeni medicine for centuries. This study provides a comparative chemical and bioactivity evaluation of two distinct fractions: a polar fraction (E1) obtained via aqueous maceration and a lipophilic fraction (E5) obtained via methanolic Soxhlet extraction. The crude resin exhibited moisture content (10.28 ± 0.14%), ash content (7.44 ± 0.11%), pH (4.31 ± 0.16), viscosity (0.932 mPa·s), and protein content (17.06 ± 0.61%). Antimicrobial assays demonstrated that E5 exhibited significant inhibitory activity against gram-positive bacteria and Candida albicans, whereas E1 remained inactive. Gas chromatography–Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that E5 is rich in bioactive oxygenated sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpene lactones, whereas E1 is dominated by fatty acid esters with min- imal bioactivity. The superior antioxidant capacity of E5 (IC50 ≈ 170g/mL) exceeded E1 (IC50 ≈ 1480μg/mL) strongly correlated with higher phytochemical yields: total phenolics (46.04 vs. 6.35 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry extract (mg GAE/g)), flavonoids (6.55 vs. 0.69 mg quercetin equivalents per gram (mg QE/g)), and tannins (19.49 vs. 4.48 mg tannic acid equivalents per gram (mg TAE/g)). These results confirm that the primary bioactivity of C. myrrha is sequestered within the resinous terpenoid fraction. This study establishes critical quality control parameters for Yemeni C. myrrha and supports a dual-use strategy: E5 for pharmaceutical development and E1 for industrial applications as a natural hydrocolloid.
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