Jennifer M. Schmidt

Abaco Bush Medicine: Chemical Composition of the Essential Oils of Four Aromatic Medicinal Plants from Abaco Island, Bahamas

ABSTRACT The leaf essential oils of four aromatic plants used in traditional “bush” medicine on Abaco Island, Bahamas, were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. The most abundant components of Amyris elemifera (Rutaceae) were limonene (45.0%), linalool (20.8%), (β-caryophyllene (5.6%), 3-hexadecanone (5.3%), caryophyllene oxide (3.9%), and (β-sesquiphellandrene (3.6%). Eugenia axillaris (Myrtaceae) leaf oil was largely composed of α-pinene (15.5%), dihydroagarofuran (9.2%), β-caryophyllene (8.8%), α-humulene (6.9%), 1,8-cineole (6.6%), and germacrene D (6.2%). The leaf essential oil of Lantana involucrate (Verbenaceae) was made up largely of germacrene D (21.1%), α-humulene (15.2%), and β-caryophyllene (13.7%). The most abundant components of Myrica cerifera (Myricaceae) were 1,8-cineole (30.7%), α-terpineol (14.2%), 4-terpineol (9.0%), and β-caryophyllene (6.4%). The antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus niger, and the in vitro cytotoxicity of the oils on MDA-MB-231, MCF7, Hs 578T, Hep G2, and PC-3 human tumor cells have also been examined. The reported biological activities of the major constituents of A. elemifera leaf oil are consistent with the ethnopharmacological uses of the plant in the Bahamas to reduce fever, treat symptoms of flu, treat sores, and wounds, and its use as a general tonic and bath. L. involucrate leaf oil shows slight antibacterial activity against B. cereus and Staph. aureus and is weakly cytotoxic against our panel of cell lines. The major components in the leaf oil and slight antimicrobial activity are consistent with the ethnobotanical use of L. involucrata to treat itching skin. Neither E. axillaris nor M. cerifera leaf essential oils are appreciably antimicrobial or cytotoxic. In addition, none of the major components from these essential oils show notable activity in our antimicrobial or cytotoxicity assays.

The leaf oil composition of Zanthoxylum fagara (L.) sarg. from Monteverde, Costa Rica, and its biological activities

Abstract The leaf oil of Zanthoxylum fagara was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC/MS. The most abundant oil components were citronellol (26.1%), geraniol (15.3%), citronellal (11.3%), geranial (11.6%) and neral (9.6%). The antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Aspergillus niger, and the in-vitro cytotoxicity of the oil on MDA-MB-231, Hs 578T, and 5637 human tumor cells were also examined.

In Vitro Cytotoxicity Activitie of Essential Oils of Eucalyptus Torreliana F. v. Muell (Leaves and Fruits)

Abstract In this work, the composition and cytotoxicity activities of the essential oils from the leaves and fruits of Eucalyptus torelliana F. v. Muell were evaluated. The essential oils were analyzed directly by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Monoterpenes were the major constituents (92.6 and 85.1% respectively). The most common quantitatively significant compounds were α-pinene (21.7 and 55.8%) and β-pinene (10.3 and 10.8%) respectively for the leaf and fruit oils. 1,8-Cineole (33.8%) and p-cymene (10.7%) were the other constituents found in sizeable proportions in the leaves. Both essential oils were found to be cytotoxic, inhibiting the growth of PC-3, Hep G2, Hs578T, and MDA-MB-231 human tumor cell lines. The volatile oils displayed weak activities to the tested micro-organisms of bacteria and fungi.

Cytotoxic effects of Taxodium distichum oils

Abstract The leaves and fruits of Taxodium distichum. (L.) L. C. Rich. (Taxodiaceae) collected from Nigeria were subjected to hydrodistillation. The essential oils obtained were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main compounds were α-pinene (60.5%) and thujopsene (17.6%) from the fruits and thujopsene (27.7%), pimara-8(14),15-diene (13.1%), widdrol (12.8%), and β.-caryophyllene (11.4%) from the leaves. The oils exhibited pronounced cytotoxic activities against PC-3, Hep G2, and Hs 578T human tumor cell lines at tested concentrations. Only the fruit oil displayed a promising antifungal effect (MIC 19.5 µg/mL) against Aspergillus niger..

Constituents of Essential Oils of Apium graveolens L., Allium cepa L., and Voacanga africana Staph. from Nigeria

Abstract In this work, the volatile oils from the plants of Apium graveolens L., Voacanga africana Staph. and Allium cepa L. were analysed for their constituents by GC-MS. Limonene (40.5%), β-selinene (16.3%), cis-ocimene (12.5%) and β-caryophyllene (10.5%) were the main compounds of A. graveolens, while V. africana was predominantly comprised of precocene I (7-Methoxy-2,2-dimethylchromene) (95.2)%. On the other hand, the volatile oil of A. cepa was characterized by sulphur compounds, of which diallyl trisulphide (58.8%), methyl allyl trisulphide (18.5%) and diallyl disulphide (17.7%) were in abundance.

Analyses of the Volatile Constituents and Antimicrobial Activities of Gongronema Latifolium (Benth.) and Gnetum Africanum L

Abstract The volatile oils, obtained by hydrodistillation of the leaves of Gongronema latifolium (Benth) and Gnetum africanum L., were analyzed for their constituents by means of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). G. latifolium was characterized by high amount of linalool (19.5%), (E)-phytol (15.3%) and aromadendrene hydrate (9.8%). The main constituents of G. africanum were β-caryophyllene (18.1%), (E)-phytol (16.5%) and 6, 10, 14- trimethyl-2-pentadecanone (9.7%). The two oils mentioned above did not showed any significant antimicrobial effect against the tested microorganisms, except for the oil of G. africanum, which showed a moderate inhibition (MIC 39μg/mL) to the growth of E. coli (ATCC No. 25922).