Chemical composition and biological activities of Bocageopsis multiflora essential oil

Abstract

This article describes, for the first time, the chemical constituents of the essential oils from fresh leaves of Bocageopsis multiflora, collected in two seasons, and some of its biological activities. The oils were analyzed by gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (MS) and showed a high proportion of sesquiterpenes. The main constituent of the oil collected in the rainy season was bisabolene (13.2%), while the main constituent in the dry season was spathulenol (16.2%). The highest yield (0.3%) was obtained for the oil collected in the rainy season, which was assayed against Leishmania amazonensis promastigote forms, exhibiting significant activity (IC50 of 14.6 μg/mL). Comparison between the oil and the reference drug (pentamidine isethionate) showed non-toxic effects for mice peritoneal macrophages treated at IC50 of each sample. The results obtained in the prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time tests indicated that the oil acted as a procoagulant, causing activation of coagulation in both pathways.