Abstract
Essential oils (EOs) of the leaves of three Eugenia punicifolia specimens from two different Reservation Parks, namely Parque Nacional das Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba (EpNRP-I and EpNRP-II) and Parque Nacional da Chapada das Mesas (EpCM), in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, were extracted by hydrodistillation and investigated by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses indicated differences between the samples. Antiproliferative EOs activity was determined for U-251 (glioblastoma), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), NCI/ADR-RES (multidrug-resistant ovarian adenocarcinoma), OVCAR-3 (ovarian adenocarcinoma), HT-29 (colorectal adenocarcinoma), and HaCaT (non‑tumor keratinocyte) cell lines applying the colorimetric method using 3-(4,5-dimethyl- 2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) to determine the GI50 (50% growth inhibition) concentration. The extraction yields of the analyzed EOs were 0.58, 1.42 and 0.84%. The main constituents identified in two samples were α-pinene (49.75%), 1,8-cineole (13.77%) and α-terpineol (7.32%), and in the third sample, germacrene B (16.25%), (E)-caryophyllene (13.21%) and β-pinene (12.81%). The main GI50 results for sample EpNRP-I were noted for the U-251 (2.13 μg mL−1) and MCF-7 (6.72 μg mL−1) tumor lines. For the non-tumoral line HaCaT, the calculated GI50 was higher than the positive control comprising doxorubicin hydrochloride (13.35 μg mL−1). In addition, a flow cytometry analysis revealed that this same sample arrests the cell cycle of the MCF-7 line in the second interphase stage.
Highlights
Myrtaceae has more than 5600 species distributed between 130 to 140 genera.[1,2] It is native to the Cerrado and other biomes in the tropical and subtropical areas of South America, Australia, and Asia
Considering that the collection sites of the EpNRP-I and EpNRP-II, and EpCM samples were different, as well as the composition of their essential oils, one can assume in this work the occurrence of two distinct chemotypes to E. punicifolia existing in the Cerrado areas of Maranhão, Brazil
The findings reported indicate differences in the chemical composition of the Essential oils (EOs) samples obtained from aerial Eugenia punicifolia parts from two different locations
Summary
Myrtaceae has more than 5600 species distributed between 130 to 140 genera.[1,2] It is native to the Cerrado and other biomes in the tropical and subtropical areas of South America, Australia, and Asia. Several research groups seek to study in a non-predatory way the potential of Brazilian biodiversity, in particular,. A database that lists several aromatic species collected in the nine states of the Brazilian Amazon has been published,[5] confirming the richness of the Amazonian flora and its phytochemical potential. This study has been underway for more than 30 years, which reflects a significant example of how much remains to be discovered in the Brazilian biodiversity.
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