Bioactive chemical compounds in Eremurus persicus (Joub. & Spach) Boiss. essential oil and their health implications

Abstract

The genus Eremurus is native to Eastern Europe and temperate Asia. Particularly, Eremurus persicus (Joub. & Spach) Boiss. is highly valued in traditional foods and medicine. Scientific knowledge about E. persicus chemical composition and bioactivity is required. Therefore, the present study is aimed to determine the volatile composition of E. persicus essential oil (EO) by means of gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization/mass spectrometry detection. Moreover, the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of the EO were tested. Interestingly, the anti-dermatophyte potency was close to that of the drug griseofulvin, with minimum fungicidal concentration ranging between 0.7 and 4.5% depending on the fungi strain. The EO was also effective against hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep-G2) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) human cancer cell lines in a concentration (200-1500 ng/mL)-dependent manner, with a decrease of the cell viability up to 65% and 52%, respectively. The E. persicus EO was rich in terpenes and oxygenated terpene derivatives. Individually, limonene (16.25%), geranylgeraniol (15.23%), n-nonanal (9.48%), geranyl acetone (9.12%), benzene acetaldehyde (8.51%), linalool (7.93%), α-pinene (6.89%), and 1,8-cineol (5.22%) were the most abundant volatile compounds and could be chosen as analytical markers of this essential oil. In conclusion, our results suggested that this EO possesses a wide range of bioactive properties that could be useful in nutraceutical, functional foods and cosmeceutical formulations.

Thymol, thyme, and other plant sources: Health and potential uses

“…Nowadays, various risks factors such as stress, environmental and biodiversity changes, modern life styles and new food habits, immune pressures, and the impact of exploding populations lead to flaring up of common health problems in humans, to increase the frequency of carcinomas and to compromise the immune system. In addition to this, a deadly issue of the present time is the emergence of antibiotic‐resistant pathogens and the toxic effects of residual medicines in the food chain (Dhama et al, ; Kuldeep et al, ; Sharifi‐Rad, Ayatollahi, et al, ; Sharifi‐Rad, Varoni, et al, ; Salehi et al, ). These factors act as the driving force for the search of new medicaments.…”

“…From the antioxidant activity measured in plasma, these authors suggested that the antioxidant protection against oxidative stress could occur through a direct antioxidant effect of phenolic metabolites, including thymol sulfate(Rubió et al, 2014).3.3 | Role in health: BioactivityNowadays, various risks factors such as stress, environmental and biodiversity changes, modern life styles and new food habits, immune pressures, and the impact of exploding populations lead to flaring up of common health problems in humans, to increase the frequency of carcinomas and to compromise the immune system. In addition to this, a deadly issue of the present time is the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and the toxic effects of residual medicines in the food chain(Dhama et al, 2013;Kuldeep et al, 2014;Salehi et al, 2017). These factors act as the driving force for the search of new medicaments.…”

Echinacea plants as antioxidant and antibacterial agents: From traditional medicine to biotechnological applications

“…Regarding the volatile compounds, essential oils (EOs) are considered as potential medicinal agents (Salehi et al, ; J. Sharifi‐Rad, Sureda, et al, ; M. Sharifi‐Rad, Varoni, et al, ; M. Sharifi‐Rad et al, ; Yu et al, ). The EOs from Echinacea plants can be obtained from different parts of the plants, such as roots, leaves, flowers, and aerial parts, and with different yields (Mazza & Cottrell, ).…”

Phytochemicals in Helicobacter pylori Infections: What Are We Doing Now?

“…Specifically, the antimicrobial effects of multiple plant preparations have been progressively confirmed and supported by both in vitro and in vivo studies and clinical trials [17,18,19,20,21]. Thus, their lower costs, high effectiveness, bioavailability, bioefficacy, and few to no adverse effects have led to intensive research on this topic [22,23,24,25,26,27,28]. …”