A multivariate analysis approach to the study of chemical and functional properties of chemo‐diverse plant derivatives: lavender essential oils

Abstract

Six lavender essential oils, L. angustifolia and five Lavandula x hybrida cultivars (Super Z, Abrialis, R.C., Alardii and Ordinario), were evaluated from a phytochemical and biological standpoint, and the results were computed by using multivariate data analysis. The essential oils were analysed by gas chromatography, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and headspace gas‐chromatography. Multivariate analyses (principal component analysis) identified three main phytochemical clusters among lavender essential oils, represented by 1,8‐cineole, linalyl acetate and linalool. Functional properties of the essential oils were checked by (1) estimating cytotoxicity and genotoxicity using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae D7 strain; (2) determining antifungal activity against three common phytopathogens (Pythium ultimum, Magnaporthe grisea and Botrytis cinerea), by performing an agar vapour bioassay; and (3) calculating the antioxidant capacity by using the 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β‐carotene bleaching tests. No mutagenic effects were detected, but multivariate analyses (PLS, partial least squares regression) showed that the essential oils belonging to the linalool cluster were the most cytotoxic. Antifungal activity against phytopathogens confirmed the predictive results of PLS. The differences among lavender essential oils regarding weak antioxidant capacity showed a positive relationship between the high polarity compounds and the DPPH method, as determined by PLS. The opposite effect was shown for the same type of compound and β‐carotene. Ketones and esters did not exert any significant antioxidant activity. In conclusion, taking lavender essential oils as a model and computing multivariate data of a reduced number of parameters, the proposed approach assured the description of the relationship between a phytocomplex, its constituents and bioactivities, and allowed a comprehensive, predictive approach to be defined, for which the chemical profile provides a possible synergic overall effort in terms of applicative perspectives. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Essential Oil Extraction, Chemical Analysis and Anti-Candida Activity of Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi subsp. glandulosa (Req.) Ball—New Approaches

“…Looking at Tables S1–S4, it is evident that other minor constituents are capable of microbiological activity as well and might be involved in the inhibition process with some synergistic mechanism resembling the one recently described [8]. This is in compliance with the phytocomplex hypothesis discussed elsewhere [40,41]. Further analysis of data indicates the lack of any significant correlation between the antimicrobial activity and the vegetative stage of the plant (Table 6).…”

Screening of antifungal activity of 12 essential oils against eight pathogenic fungi of vegetables and mushroom

“…Maietti et al . () found that linalool—a major component of lavender—showed high cytotoxicity against B. cinerea and P. ultimum . In our study, linalool was not the major component in this EO and did not have antagonistic activity against these genera, although lavender did have antagonistic activity against other myco‐ and phytopathogens.…”

“…Some authors suggest that essential oils are significantly more effective than their major components, whereas others present conflicting results (Santamarina et al 2015). Maietti et al (2013) found that linalool-a major component of lavendershowed high cytotoxicity against B. cinerea and P. ultimum. In our study, linalool was not the major component in this EO and did not have antagonistic activity against these genera, although lavender did have antagonistic activity against other myco-and phytopathogens.…”

Gene Coexpression Analysis Reveals Complex Metabolism of the Monoterpene Alcohol Linalool inArabidopsisFlowers

“…Other terpene volatiles emitted from Arabidopsis flowers have been demonstrated to function in protection against pathogen attack (Huang et al, 2012). A third possibility is that linalool metabolism serves to detoxify linalool, which is active in plant defense but is also cytotoxic (Erdogan and Ozkan, 2013;Maietti et al, 2013).…”