Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of the present study was to appraise the antimicrobial activity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil against different pathogenic microorganisms and the cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell lines.MethodsThe agar disk diffusion method was used to study the antibacterial activity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil against 12 bacterial and 4 fungi strains. The disc diameters of zone of inhibition (DD), the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and the concentration inhibiting 50% (IC50) were investigated to characterize the antimicrobial activities of this essential oil. The in vitro cytotoxicity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil was examined using a modified MTT assay; the viability and the IC50 were used to evaluate this test.ResultsThe essential oil from the leaves of Ricinus communis L. was analyzed by GC–MS and bioassays were carried out. Five constituents of the oil were identified by GC–MS. The antimicrobial activity of the oil was investigated in order to evaluate its efficacy against twelve bacteria and four fungi species, using disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration methods. The essential oil showed strong antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms tested with higher sensitivity for Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter cloacae. The cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of the essential oil on HeLa cell lines were examined by MTT assay. The cytotoxicity of the oil was quite strong with IC50 values less than 2.63 mg/ml for both cell lines.ConclusionThe present study showed the potential antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties of the essential oil of Ricinus communis L., indicating the possibilities of its potential use in the formula of natural remedies for the topical treatment of infections.
Highlights
The aim of the present study was to appraise the antimicrobial activity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil against different pathogenic microorganisms and the cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell lines
The in-vitro antibacterial activity of R. communis essential oil was evaluated by a paper disc diffusion method against sixteen microorganisms
Our study confirmed the results reported previously by Kadri et al [20], who indicated that the antioxidant activity of R. communis essential oil was efficient when concentrations are less than 0.4 mg/ml
Summary
The aim of the present study was to appraise the antimicrobial activity of Ricinus communis L. essential oil against different pathogenic microorganisms and the cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell lines. Many plants are used for different industrial purposes such as food, drugs, and perfumery manufacturing [1,2,3]. These compounds possess a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities [4]. In Tunisia, Ricinus communis is used as a contraceptive herbal drug It is a traditional folk medicine used in the treatment of warts, cold tumors, and indurations of mammary glands, corns, and moles [16,17,18]. The antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties of R. communis essential oil have not yet been explicitly discussed
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