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Cytotoxic Essential Oils from Eryngium campestre and Eryngium amethystinum (Apiaceae) Growing in Central Italy
Author(s) -
Cianfaglione Kevin,
Blomme Evy E.,
Quassinti Luana,
Bramucci Massimo,
Lupidi Giulio,
Dall'Acqua Stefano,
Maggi Filippo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemistry and biodiversity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1612-1880
pISSN - 1612-1872
DOI - 10.1002/cbdv.201700096
Subject(s) - apiaceae , chemistry , essential oil , sesquiterpene , traditional medicine , antioxidant , botany , food science , stereochemistry , biochemistry , biology , medicine
Eryngium campestre and E. amethystinum are thorny herbs belonging to the Apiaceae family and spontaneously growing in stony pastures and dry meadows, preferentially on calcareous substrates. In the Mediterranean countries, these plants have been used as a food or traditional remedies to treat various ailments. In the present work, we have analyzed the chemical composition of the essential oils distilled from the aerial parts by GC ‐ FID and GC / MS , and evaluated their cytotoxic effects on a panel of human cancer cells, namely A375 (human malignant melanoma), MDA ‐ MB 231 cells (human breast adenocarcinoma), and HCT 116 cells (human colon carcinoma), by the MTT assay. Furthermore, the Eryngium essential oils were evaluated for antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase ( AC hE) activities. The two essential oils were rich in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, with germacrene D as the major compound, accompanied by allo ‐aromadendrene, β ‐elemene, spathulenol, and ledol. They turned out to be highly cytotoxic on the tumor cells, with IC 50 values (1.65 – 5.32 and 1.57 – 2.99 μg/ml for E. amethystinum and E. campestre , respectively) comparable or close to those of the anticancer drug cisplatin. The E. amethystinum essential oil exhibited a moderate antioxidant activity, whereas that of E. campestre a weak AC hE inhibition.