Eugenia species have been appreciated for their edible fruits and medicinal properties. This paper aims to investigate the chemical composition and in vitro antileishmanial, antifungal and antiproliferative activities of essential oil from aerial parts of Eugenia pyriformis (EP-EO). The oil showed strong antileishmanial activity against promastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis (IC 50 = 2.16 µg/mL). It also exhibited high antifungal activity against Malassezia furfur (MIC = 30 µg/mL), which was determined by the broth microdilution method. Its antiproliferative activity was evaluated against the following cells: GM07429A (normal cell), MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), HeLa (human cervical adenocarcinoma) and M059J (human glioblastoma). Its major constituents, which were determined by GC-FID and GC-MS, were limonene (14.8%), nerolidol (11.0%), α-cadinol (10.3%), caryophyllene oxide (9.9%) and β-pinene (7.1%). These results showed, for the first time, the effectiveness of EP-EO as a natural product which has promising biological activities, a fact that enables its ethnopharmacological use.

Spiranthera odoratissima A. St. Hil. (Rutaceae), a plant grown in midwestern Brazil, has been used for treating rheumatism, infection and abdominal pain. This research aims to investigate chemical constituents of essential oils from S. odoratissima A. St. Hil. leaves and flowers. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and fully characterized by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results of the essential oil from S. odoratissima A. St. Hil. leaves showed that it has 28 volatile compounds which represent 93.8% of the oil. Its major compounds were -caryophyllene (23.8%), bicyclogermacrene (10.8%), δ-cadinene (7.1%), germacrene D (5.9%), -copaene (5.5%) and -elemene (5.3%). Results of the essential oil from S. odoratissima A. St. Hil. flowers showed that it has 29 volatile compounds which represent 94.4% of the oil. Its main constituents were -caryophyllene (14.1%), spathulenol (8.1%), cadinene (7.2%), α-cadinol (6.6%), -copaene (6.4%), τ-muurolol (6.3%), δ-cadinene (5.8%), -elemene (5.4%) and alloaromadendrene (5.2%). In this research, chemical constituents of the essential oil from S. odoratissima A. St. Hil. flowers were investigated for the first time.

This study aimed to isolate and identify flavonoids with hypoglycemic activity in Costus spiralis leaves. The methanolic extract (ME) was rich in flavonoids, while the powdered leaves (PL) contained considerable amounts of macro‐ and microelements. Oral acute treatment of streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic rats for 18 h with the C. spiralis PL, ME and isolated guaijaverin (GUA) lowered glycemia, improved oral glucose tolerance and inhibited liver lipid peroxidation. GUA and ME lowered plasma levels of low‐density and non‐high density lipoproteins; GUA also lowered total cholesterol levels. PL, ME and GUA did not significantly alter the plasma levels of triglycerides, high‐density lipoproteins, very low‐density lipoproteins, creatinine and aspartate transaminase, and the total protein levels in the kidney and liver tissues. Therefore, C. spiralis leaves are promising raw materials and rich sources of bioactive flavonoids for the development of novel antidiabetic drugs due to their hypoglycemic, antidyslipidemic and antioxidant actions.

In Brazilian folk medicine, Spiranthera odoratissima has been used to treat rheumatism, infection and abdominal pain. Essential oils (EOs) are technological options that may be employed in natural foods due to their antimicrobial activities. This paper aimed to investigate the chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial effects of EOs from S. odoratissima leaves and flowers against foodborne and spoilage bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, Yersinia enterocolitica, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum, Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of EOs were calculated by the broth microdilution method on 96-well microplates. Both GC-FID and GC-MS analyses revealed that the major components determined in EOs from S. odoratissima leaves were β-caryophyllene (23.8%), bicyclogermacrene (10.8%) and δ-cadinene (7.1%). Major constituents found in EOs from its flowers were β-caryophyllene (14.1%), spathulenol (8.1%) and γ-cadinene (7.2%). EOs from S. odoratissima leaves and flowers showed strong antibacterial activity against Yersinia enterocolitica (MIC = 0.30 mg/mL), Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 0.12 mg/mL), Clostridium botulinum (MIC = 0.30 mg/mL), Bacillus cereus (MIC = 0.20 mg/mL) and Listeria monocytogenes (MIC = 0.25 mg/mL). These EOs could be important natural alternatives to prevent bacterial growth in food products.