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. 2017 Jul 12;22(7):1163.
doi: 10.3390/molecules22071163.

Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. (syn. M. fallax (Rich.) DC.) (Myrtaceae) Essential Oil from Amazonian Ecuador: A Chemical Characterization and Bioactivity Profile

Laura Scalvenzi  1 , Alessandro Grandini  2 , Antonella Spagnoletti  3 , Massimo Tacchini  4 , David Neill  5 , José Luis Ballesteros  6 , Gianni Sacchetti  7 , Alessandra Guerrini  8   9
Affiliations

Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. (syn. M. fallax (Rich.) DC.) (Myrtaceae) Essential Oil from Amazonian Ecuador: A Chemical Characterization and Bioactivity Profile

Laura Scalvenzi et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

In this study, we performed the chemical characterization of Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. (Myrtaceae) essential oil from Amazonian Ecuador and the assessment of its bioactivity in terms of cytotoxic, antibacterial, and antioxidant activity as starting point for possible applicative uses. M. splendens essential oil, obtained by hydro-distillation, was analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID): the major components were found to be trans-nerolidol (67.81%) and α-bisabolol (17.51%). Furthermore, we assessed the cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 (breast), A549 (lung) human tumor cell lines, and HaCaT (human keratinocytes) non-tumor cell line through 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) test: promising results in terms of selectivity and efficacy against the MCF-7 cell line (IC50 of 5.59 ± 0.13 μg/mL at 48 h) were obtained, mainly due to α-bisabolol. Furthermore, antibacterial activity against Gram positive and negative bacteria were performed through High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) bioautographic assay and microdilution method: trans-nerolidol and β-cedren-9-one were the main molecules responsible for the low antibacterial effects against human pathogens. Nevertheless, interesting values of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) were noticeable against phytopathogen strains. Radical scavenging activity performed by HPTLC bioautographic and spectrophotometric 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) approaches were negligible. In conclusion, the essential oil revealed a good potential for plant defense and anti-cancer applications.

Keywords: Myrcia splendens; antibacterial activity; antioxidant activity; bioautographic assay; cytotoxic activity; essential oil.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of M. splendens essential oil (EO), α-bisabolol and trans-nerolidol on viability of A549 (A), MCF-7 (B) and HaCaT (C) cell lines. Cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT test after 48 h.
Figure 2
Figure 2
HPTLC (High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography) bioautographic assay performed for antibacterial activity on S. aureus, of M. splendens essential oil. Rf: retention factor: it represents the ratio between the migration distance of a substance and the migration distance of the solvent front. Rf composition is reported in Table 1. (A) HPTLC derivatized with vanillin-phosphoric acid reagent. (B) HPTLC performed for antibacterial activity on S. aureus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
HPTLC bioautographic assay performed for DPPH activity of M. splendens essential oil. Rf composition is reported in Table 1. (A) HPTLC derivatized with vanillin-phosphoric acid reagent; (B) HPTLC derivatized with solution of DPPH radical.
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