Abstract
The most commonly used plant source of β-elemene is Curcuma wenyujin Y. H. Chen & C. Ling (syn. of Curcuma aromatic Salisb.) with its content in supercritical CO2 extract up to 27.83%. However, the other rich source of this compound is Nigella damascena L. essential oil, in which β-elemene accounts for 47%. In this work, the effective protocol for preparative isolation of β-elemene from a new source—N. damascena essential oil—using high performance counter-current chromatography HPCCC was elaborated. Furthermore, since sesquiterpens are known as potent antimicrobials, the need for finding new agents designed to combat multi-drug resistant strains was addressed and the purified target compound and the essential oil were tested for its activity against a panel of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and mycobacterial strains. The application of the mixture of petroleum ether, acetonitrile, and acetone in the ratio 2:1.5:0.5 (v/v) in the reversed phase mode yielded β-elemene with high purity in 70 min. The results obtained for antimicrobial assay clearly indicated that N. damascena essential oil and isolated β-elemene exert action against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Ra.
Highlights
Introduction βElemene, a natural sesquiterpene and its isomers were isolated for the first time in 1994 from dry curcuma rhizome, and until now rhizome of curcuma
GC-MS analysis was used to confirm a proper selection of source material for β-elemene isolation
N. damascena essential oil (EO) obtained via hydrodistillation constituted 0.436% of dry 29 compounds representing over 99% of the total EO were identified (Table 1), with β-elemene plant material. 29 compounds representing over 99% of the total EO were identified (Table 1), with beingβ-elemene the mainbeing ingredient and accounting
Summary
A natural sesquiterpene and its isomers were isolated for the first time in 1994 from dry curcuma rhizome, and until now rhizome of curcuma C. phaeocaulis Valeton, and C. kwangsiensis S. F. Liang, Zingiberaceae) is the only plant source that has been used in elemene processing industry [1]. The described content of β-elemene in extract of rhizome curcuma processed during industrial supercritical CO2 extraction is up to 27.83%; there are several plant species more abundant in β-elemene or its isomers in their essential oils (Nigella damascena L., Magnolia figo (Lour.) DC, Alisma plantago-aquatica subsp. The described content of β-elemene in extract of rhizome curcuma processed during industrial supercritical CO2 extraction is up to 27.83%; there are several plant species more abundant in β-elemene or its isomers in their essential oils (Nigella damascena L., Magnolia figo (Lour.) DC, Alisma plantago-aquatica subsp. orientale (Sam.) Sam
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