Correlation between Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Clausena lansium Essential Oil against Candida spp.

Yinzheng Ma,Guohui Yi,Jinlei Sui,Xiaowen He,Lantong Zhang,Jinyan Wu,Jinping Chen

doi:10.3390/molecules24071394

Yinzheng Ma, Guohui Yi + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24071394

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Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) have been shown to have a diversity of beneficial human health effects. Clausena is a large and highly diverse genus of plants with medicinal and cosmetic significance. The aim of this study was to analyze the composition of Clausena lansium EOs and to investigate their potential antifungal effects. The chemical compositions of Clausena lansium EOs obtained by hydrodistillation were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 101 compounds were identified among the diverse extracts of C. lansium. EOs of leaves and pericarps from different cultivars (Hainan local wampee and chicken heart wampee) collected in Hainan (China) were classified into four clusters based on their compositions. These clusters showed different antifungal activities against five Candida species (C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. krusei and C. parapsilosis) using the disc diffusion method. Clausena lansium EOs of pericarps displayed noteworthy antifungal activitives against all the tested Candida strains with inhibition zone diameters in the range of 11.1–23.1 mm. EOs of leaves showed relatively low antifungal activities with inhibition zone diameters in the range of 6.5–22.2 mm. The rank order of antifungal activities among the four EO clusters was as follows: Cluster IV> Cluster III > Cluster I ≥ Cluster II. These results represent the first report about the correlation between chemical composition of C. lansium EOs and antifungal activity. Higher contents of β-phellandrene, β-sesquiphellandrene and β-bisabolene in EOs of pericarps were likely responsible for the high antifungal activity of Cluster IV EOs. Taken together, our results demonstrate the chemical diversity of Clausena lansium EOs and their potential as novel antifungal agents for candidiasis caused by Candida spp. Furthermore, the obtained results showing a wide spectrum of antifungal activities provide scientific evidence for the traditional use of these plants.

Highlights

Natural plant products, especially essential oils (EOs), have many beneficial biological effects, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and analgesic activities
Our results demonstrate the chemical diversity of Clausena lansium EOs and their potential as novel antifungal agents for candidiasis caused by Candida spp
Clausena lansium EOs extracted by hydrodistillation were light yellow to yellow in color

Summary

Introduction

Especially essential oils (EOs), have many beneficial biological effects, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and analgesic activities. EOs are volatile aromatic substances found in many plants. The EOs may exist in fruits, seeds, flowers and leaves. They have already significant attention because of their abundance, broad spectrum activities, and diverse mechanisms of action. They are among the most popular natural antimicrobial agents and they have recently gained a great popularity and scientific interest [1,2,3,4].

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