Chemical Composition, Antibacterial, Antiviral, Antioxidant, and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Properties of Essential Oils from Carlina acanthifolia All. roots

Abstract

The investigation aimed to reveal the chemical composition, antioxidant activities, antibacterial, antiviral, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory properties of the essential oil of Carlina acanthifolia All. roots. Essential oil was produced by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). In the essential oil eight compounds were found. Polyacetylene benzyl-2-furylacetylene (carlina oxide (89.36%) was found as the main constituent. There were also found sesquiterpenes farnezol (Z,E), farnezol (Z,Z), trans-β-farnesene, α-curcumene, γ-curcumene, β-sesquiphellandrene, and benzaldehyde. The Carlinae radix essential oil possessed a strong radical scavenging ability IC50 86.20 μg/mL (ABTS method). Essential oil showed antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus (MIC 0.313 μg/mL), Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 1.25 μg/mL), Listeria monocytogenes (MIC-5.0 μg/mL), Proteus vulgaris (MIC 0.625 μg/mL), Salmonella enteritidis (MIC-5.0 μg/mL), Candida albicans (MIC 1.25 μg/mL) and Escherichia coli (MIC 5.0 μg/mL). Investigated essential oil showed significant acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (IC50 0.28 μg/mL) in comparison to galanthamine. An essential oil from Carlina acanthifolia demonstrated antiviral effect on human poliovirus-1 (LSc-2ab) by inhibiting the adsorption of the viral particles on the cell lines (Human epithelial type 2). The pharmacological activities demonstrated by the essential oil from C. acanthifolia radix showed its potential application as a remedy or its impact on human health and nutrition.