Isolation, characterization and evaluation of antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of estragole, obtained from the essential oil of croton zehntneri (euphorbiaceae)

Abstract

Croton zehntneri (Euphorbiaceae) is a native aromatic plant from Northeast region of Brazil. The monoterpenoid estragole (ESL) has been isolated by classical chromatographic methods from the essential oil (EO) of C. zehnteneri leaves and characterized by GC-FID and GC-MS, its antimicrobial and cytotoxic potentials being assessed. The analysis of the EO enabled the identification of 100% of the integrated constituents, of which yield was about 1.8%. The main components identified were: eucalyptol, estragole (84.7%) and spathulenol. The dosage of 50 μg/disk of ESL presented fairly significant zones of inhibition against Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. The ESL presented toxicity against Artemia salina with LC 50 and LC 90 of 4,54 and 8,47 μg mL -1 . However, in tumor inhibition assays (human cells), there were no rewarding inhibition in any of the human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HEP-2 and NCI-H292).

Eutirucallin: A Lectin with Antitumor and Antimicrobial Properties

“…Plants from the Euphorbiaceae family have also demonstrated antimicrobial activity. Croton zehntneri and Manihot multifida (L.) Crantz had potential activity against several positive and negative gram strains, inhibiting up to 73.5% of S. aureus and 72.72% of E. coli growth, respectively (Kirbag et al, 2013; Andrade et al, 2015). …”

Agastache honey has superior antifungal activity in comparison with important commercial honeys

“…Several studies have also reported that oils containing high concentrations of estragole have antifungal activity. For example, croton zehntneri oil, which contains 84.7% estragole produced significant zones of inhibition against fungi ( C. albicans and B. dermatitidis ) 45 . The essential oil extracted from Foeniculum vulgare , which contains a major fraction of estragole, demonstrated antifungal activity against C. albicans 46 .…”

Physicochemical characteristics and cytotoxic effect of the methanolic extract of Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth (Euphorbiaceae)

“…In a similar investigation, essential oil of Croton zehntneri, containing its major compound estragole, was tested on NCI-H292, MCF-7 and Hep-2 cell lines. Results revealed numbers lower than 20% of growth inhibition (Andrade et al, 2015). This study demonstrates that the physical-chemical profile of the extract is composed of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and hydrolysed tannins.…”

“…Percentage values of 1-20% were classified as "without inhibitory activity", between 20-50% as "low inhibitory activity", for values between 50-70% as "moderate inhibitory activity", and as "high inhibitory activity" for 70-100% (Andrade et al, 2015).…”