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

Eleni Fitsiou, Gregoria Mitropoulou, Katerina Spyridopoulou, Angeliki Tiptiri-Kourpeti, Manolis Vamvakias, Haido Bardouki, Mihalis I Panagiotidis, Alex Galanis, Yiannis Kourkoutas, Katerina Chlichlia, Aglaia Pappa*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

104 Citations (Scopus)
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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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1069
JournalMolecules
Volume21
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Aug 2016

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial
  • Antioxidant
  • Antiproliferative
  • Composition
  • Essential oil
  • Fortunella margarita
  • Mentha spicata
  • Ocimum basilicum
  • Pimpinella anisum

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Organic Chemistry

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