Phytochemical Profile and Evaluation of the Biological Activities of Essential Oils Derived from the Greek Aromatic Plant Species Ocimum basilicum, Mentha spicata, Pimpinella anisum and Fortunella margarita.

Molecules. 2016 Aug 16;21(8). pii: E1069. doi: 10.3390/molecules21081069.

Fitsiou E¹, Mitropoulou G², Spyridopoulou K³, Tiptiri-Kourpeti A⁴, Vamvakias M⁵, Bardouki H⁶, Panayiotidis MΙ⁷, Galanis A⁸, Kourkoutas Y⁹, Chlichlia K¹⁰, Pappa A¹¹.

Author information

• ¹Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. elenfits@gmail.com.
• ²Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. grigoriamitropoulou@gmail.com.
• ³Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. aikspiridopoulou@gmail.com.
• ⁴Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. mbg_tiptiri@yahoo.gr.
• ⁵VIORYL S.A., Chemical & Agricultural Industry, Research S.A., Afidnes 19014, Greece. vamvakias@vioryl.gr.
• ⁶VIORYL S.A., Chemical & Agricultural Industry, Research S.A., Afidnes 19014, Greece. bardouki@vioryl.gr.
• ⁷School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland EH14 4AS, UK. M.Panagiotidis@hw.ac.uk.
• ⁸Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. agalanis@mbg.duth.gr.
• ⁹Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. ikourkou@mbg.duth.gr.
• ¹⁰Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. achlichl@mbg.duth.gr.
• ¹¹Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece. apappa@mbg.duth.gr.

Abstract

Natural products, known for their medicinal properties since antiquity, are continuously being studied for their biological properties. In the present study, we analyzed the composition of the volatile preparations of essential oils of the Greek plants Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil), Mentha spicata (spearmint), Pimpinella anisum (anise) and Fortunella margarita (kumquat). GC/MS analyses revealed that the major components in the essential oil fractions, were carvone (85.4%) in spearmint, methyl chavicol (74.9%) in sweet basil, trans-anethole (88.1%) in anise, and limonene (93.8%) in kumquat. We further explored their biological potential by studying their antimicrobial, antioxidant and antiproliferative activities. Only the essential oils from spearmint and sweet basil demonstrated cytotoxicity against common foodborne bacteria, while all preparations were active against the fungi Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger. Antioxidant evaluation by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity assays revealed a variable degree of antioxidant potency. Finally, their antiproliferative potential was tested against a panel of human cancer cell lines and evaluated by using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. All essential oil preparations exhibited a variable degree of antiproliferative activity, depending on the cancer model used, with the most potent one being sweet basil against an in vitro model of human colon carcinoma.

KEYWORDS:

Fortunella margarita; Mentha spicata; Ocimum basilicum; Pimpinella anisum; antimicrobial; antioxidant; antiproliferative; composition; essential oil

PMID:

27537869

DOI:

10.3390/molecules21081069

[PubMed - in process]

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