Gas Chromatographic-Mass Spectrometric Analysis, Antibacterial, Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities of the Needle Essential Oil of Abies pindrow growing wild in Kashmir, India

Abstract

The essential oil composition of the leaves of Abies pindrow, growing in Kashmir, India, along with its antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer activity is reported for the first time. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed the presence of 12 constituents, representing 99.9% of the total oil. The major constituents of the oil were limonene (38.9%), α-pinene (36.5%), β-pinene (6.9%), and α-selinene (4.4%). The essential oil was dominated by the presence of monoterpene hydrocarbons (90.2%), followed by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (6.761%), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (2.096%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (0.942%). The monoterpene rich essential oil was subjected to antibacterial activity against 4 Gram negative bacteria and 2 Gram positive bacteria at three different concentrations using Agar Well Diffusion Method taking streptomycin sulphate as reference. The oil displayed significant and broad spectrum antibacterial activity against different bacteria used. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the active essential oil was determined using Agar Dilution Method. Highest antibacterial activity was shown by the oil against E. Coli (25 mm), and the lowest by Bacillus subtilis (14 mm) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14 mm). The oil was subjected to cytotoxic activity by MTT assay against human mammary carcinoma (MCF), human ductal breast epithelial tumour (T47D), human lung adeno-carcinoma epithelial (A549) and rat glial (C6) cell lines at three different concentrations. The results revealed significant sensitization of the cell lines with highest inhibition against human ductal breast epithelial cell line (51%) and the lowest against rat glial cell line (33%) at a concentartion of 50 μg/mL. The oil displayed a significant free radical scavenging activity with DPPH.