Chemical composition and biological activities of the essential oils from Vitex-agnus castus, Ocimum campechianum and Ocimum carnosum.

LARA P. RICARTE,NIRLA R. ROMERO,MARCELO B. DOS SANTOS,THIAGO D.S. SILVA,GARDENIA C.G. MILITÃO,RAIMUNDO BRAZ-FILHO,GILVANDETE M.P. SANTIAGO,GABRIELI P. BEZERRA,HORLANDO C. DA SILVA,TELMA L.G. LEMOS,ANGELA M. C. ARRIAGA,PÉRICLES B. ALVES

doi:10.1590/0001-3765202020180569

Abstract

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from fresh leaves of Vitex agnus-castus and Ocimum campechianum, and from fresh inflorescences of Ocimum carnosum were analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The major components of V. agnus-castus essential oil were identified as 1,8-cineole (47.9%), terpinyl α-acetate (11.6%), sabinene (11.2%) and caryophyllene oxide (9.7%), while in the O. campechianum essential oil were eugenol (72.1%), β-elemene (6.8%), (E)-caryophyllene (6.4%) and bicyclogermacrene (5.2%). Linalool (79.0%), α-epi-cadinol (5.4%), terpinen-4-ol (3.2%) and 1,8-cineole (2.8%) were the major constituents in the O. carnosum essential oil. The essential oils were subsequently evaluated for their larvicidal and cytotoxic activities. Larval bioassay against Aedes aegypti of V. agnus-castus, O. campechianum and O. carnosum essential oils showed LC50 values of 97.55 ± 0.35, 81.45 ± 0.35 and 109.49 ± 0.35 μg/mL, respectively. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of the essential oils has been evaluated on breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), lung carcinoma (NCI-H292), pro-myelocytic leukemia (HL-60), and cervical adenocarcinoma (HEP-2) human cell lines, and pro-myelocytic leukemia cells lines (HL-60) were found to be the most sensitive to all the essential oils tested than the others. This is the first report on larvicidal and cytotoxic activities of these essential oils.

Highlights

Aedes aegypti Linnaeus (Diptera: Culicidae) is the main vector of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika virus
This study reports the larvicidal and cytotoxic activities of the essential oils from leaves of Vitex agnus-castus L. (Lamiaceae) and Ocimum campechianum Mill. (Lamiaceae), formely O. micranthum, and from inflorescences of Ocimum carnosum (Spreng) Link & Otto ex Benth (Lamiaceae), formely O. selloi, as well as their chemical composition
The yields of essential oils obtained by the hydrodistillation of fresh leaves of V. agnuscastus and O. campechianum, and of fresh inflorescences of O. carnosum were 0.1%, 0.4% and 0.5% (w/w), respectively, in relation to the weight of the plant material

Summary

Introduction

Aedes aegypti Linnaeus (Diptera: Culicidae) is the main vector of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika virus. This species is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical countries, where environmental and climatic conditions of temperature and humidity allow its proliferation (Jansen & Beebe 2010, Fujiwara et al 2017). There are no specific drugs for the treatment of these diseases; the best strategy available to reduce the incidence of these viral diseases is the control of the insect vector (Moreira et al 2016). Synthetic insecticides and insect growth regulators are widely used to reduce larval instars of mosquitoes. The frequent use of these insecticides can result in insecticide resistance, environmental pollution, and risks to human and other organisms (AlShebly et al 2017)

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