Piper aduncum L. is used in folk medicine to treat respiratory and inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to analyze the essential oil from leaves of P. aduncum collected in the Brazilian Cerrado, North of Minas Gerais, as well as to evaluate the larvicidal activity of this oil and of its major constituent. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detector and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry that allowed characterizing 23 compounds (monoterpenes: 90.4%; sesquiterpenes: 7.0%). The major component was 1,8-cineole (53.9%). This oil showed to be very different from those obtained from the same species. Larvae of A. aegypti were exposed to different concentrations of the essential oil and 1,8-cineole. The mortality rate of 100% was obtained after 24h of treatment with the oil at concentrations of 500 and 1,000 ppm. After 48h of treatment, the mortality rate was 80% and 50% for concentrations of 250 and 100 ppm, respectively. The LC 50 obtained after 24h was estimated in 289.9 ppm and after 48h was 134.1 ppm. The major compound 1,8-cineole showed no larvicidal activity.

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Re ceived: De cem ber 9 1995; Au gust 12, 1996 A composição química do óleo essencial das folhas e flores de dois acessos de Ocimum selloi Benth., cultivados na Universidade Fed eral de Viçosa foi analisada. Para o acesso A o componente prin ci pal foi identificado como estragol, o qual representa 94,95% e 92,54% do óleo das folhas e das flores, respectivamente. O óleo obtido das folhas e flores do acesso B é constituído de 65,49% e 66,18% de metil eugenol, respectivamente. Para ambos os acessos, diversos constituintes químicos, presentes em quantidades menores, foram identificados. As diferenças fenotípicas e químicas observadas en tre os dois acessos estudados indicam a existência de duas variedades quimicamente distintas de Ocimum selloi Benth.Chem i cal com po si tion anal y sis of the es sen tial oil from the leaves and flow ers of two acces sions of Ocimum selloi Benth, cul ti vated at the Fed eral Uni ver sity of Viçosa was car ried out. For ac cession A the ma jor com po nent was iden ti fied as estragole and rep re sented 94,95% and 92,54% of the oil from the leaves and flow ers re spec tively. For ac ces sion B, the oil from the leaves and flow ers was con sti tuted by 65,49% and 66,18% of methyleugenol, re spec tively. For both ac ces sions sev eral minor con stit u ents were also iden ti fied. The phenotypic and chem i cal dif fer ences ob served be tween these two ac ces sions sug gest the ex is tence of two chemicaly dis tinct va ri et ies for Ocimum selloi Benth. Key words: Ocimum selloi, estragole, methyleugenol In tro duc tionThe ge nus Ocimum (Labiatae) com prises 160 spe cies and is found through out the trop i cal and sub-tropical re gions of the world 1 . The larger ge netic di ver sity of this ge nus is found in Brazil 1 . Sev eral spe cies of this ge nus has com mer cial util ity as a source of es sen tial oil for the phar ma ceu tic, food, fla vour and perfumary in dus tries 2 .The spe cie Ocimum selloi Benth known as "alfavaquinha", "anis" and "elixir-paregorico", is orig i nated from South Amer ica, and is used in the tra di tional med i cine as antiinflammatory, an alge sic and antiespasmodic 3 .In the germplasm col lec tion kept at the Fed eral Uni ver sity of Viçosa, ac ces sions of this spe cie were found to have dif fer ent mor pho log i cal char ac ter is tics. The ac ces sion hav ing more vig orous plants, with pink co rol las and leaves with an anis-like odour was called "A". The ac ces sion formed by smaller plants, with darker co rol las, red dish ca lyx and leaves with out anis-like odour was called "B". Thus a chem i cal anal y sis of the es sen tial oil of these two ac ces sions was car ried out in or der to see if the phenotypic vari abil ity ob served was also pres ent at mo lec u lar level. In for ma tion about the chem i cal com po si tion of the oil could then be use ful in the clas si fi ca tion of these plants.

RESUMO:As helmintoses gastrintestinais constituem um dos principais fatores limitantes para a ovinocaprinocultura em todo o mundo e a saúde dos rebanhos depende de um efetivo controle antiparasitário. A resistência aos anti-helmínticos representa um dos entraves para esse controle e a busca por novas bases tem sido um desafio constante. A utilização da fitoterapia na medicina veterinária constitui um campo promissor de pesquisas. Estudos nesta área necessitam da inserção em um contexto agroecológico, tendo como fator limitante o manejo sustentável dos recursos naturais envolvidos. O presente artigo apresenta uma revisão dos estudos de plantas cientificamente testadas no Brasil e em outros países para o controle das parasitoses gastrintestinais em pequenos ruminantes.Palavras-chave: Anti-helmínticos, plantas medicinais, nematóides gastrintestinais, pequenos ruminantes ABSTRACT: Plant efficacy in small ruminant gastrointestinal nematode control: a review of published studies. Gastrointestinal helminthiasis has been one of the main limiting factors to small ruminant breeding around the world and the health of these animals depends on an efficient parasitological control. Resistance to anthelmintics represents one of the barriers to this control and the search for new bases has been a constant challenge. The use of phytotherapy in Veterinary Medicine is a promising research field. Studies in this area require the insertion into an agroecological context, presenting as limitation the sustainable management of the involved natural resources. This paper presents a review of studies on plants scientifically tested in Brazil and other countries for gastrointestinal nematode control concerning small ruminants.

RESUMO.-[Atividade antimicrobiana, toxicidade aguda e crônica do óleo essencial de Lippia origanoides.]Atualmente nota-se um aumento do interesse pelas plantas medicinais, fruto da grande procura por terapias alternativas. Neste trabalho foi avaliada a atividade antimicrobiana e a toxicidade do óleo essencial da Lippia origanoides (alecrim-pimenta). O óleo essencial de alecrim-pimenta foi obtido por arraste com vapor d'água e seus constituintes foram identificados por cromatografia acoplada a espectrofotômetro de massa (GC/MS). Entre os 15 compostos identificados os mais abundantes foram o carvacrol (29%), o-cimeno (25,57%) e metil timol éter (11,50%). Os óleos foram submetidos a ensaios antimicrobianos para determinação da CIM e da CBM. Os resultados mostraram que a dose de 120μl/mL de qualquer um dos óleos testados foi eficiente em inibir o crescimento dos micro-organismos Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) Currently, there is a growing interest in medicinal plants, because of an increased demand for alternate therapies. In this study, the antimicrobial activity and toxicity of the essential oil of Lippia origanoides (L. origanoides) were investigated. The essential oil of L. origanoides was extracted by steam-dragging distillation and its constituents were identified by chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Among the 15 compounds identified, the most abundant were carvacrol (29.00%), o-cymene (25.57%), and thymol methyl ether (11.50%). The essential oil was studied in antimicrobial assays to determine the MIC and MBC. The results indicated that a concentration of 120μL/mL of oil was sufficient to inhibit the growth of the following microorganisms: Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Salmonella cholerasuis (ATCC 10708). Acute and chronic toxic effects of orally administered oil were investigated in Wistar rats by using standard methods. Doses of 30, 60 and 120mg/kg of the essential oil did not induce significant changes in weight, behavior or hematological and biochemical parameters in the animals. There were no signs of any histopathological changes to the liver, kidneys or heart of the treated rats, suggesting that Lippia origanoides oil is non--toxic after oral administration in acute or chronic toxicity studies. The results obtained in this study show that the essential oil of L. origanoides has a high safety margin, with no detectable toxic effects in rats treated with doses to 120mg/kg. In addition, L. origanoides oil demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, E. coli and S. cholerasuis. Based on these findings, this essential oil may have practical application as a veterinary antimicrobial.INDEX TERMS: Lippia origanoides, essential oil, antimicrobial, acute toxicity, chronic toxicity.