Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential Oils of Three Closely Related Hypericum Species Growing Wild on the Island of Crete, Greece

Abstract

The volatile compositions of three closely related Hypericum species growing wild on the island of Crete were studied, all belonging to the section Coridium. Hydro-distillation in a modified Clevenger-type apparatus was performed according to the Hellenic Pharmacopoeia in order to obtain the essential oils, which were analyzed by GC-MS. Identification of the compounds was carried out by comparison of MS spectra and retention indices with literature data, as well as by co-chromatography with authentic samples. In total, 123 different compounds were identified and the main compounds were by order of their abundance as follows: H. empetrifolium: α-pinene, germacrene D, β-pinene, E-caryophyllene; H. amblycalyx: β-elemene, β-selinene, α-pinene, E-caryophyllene, α-selinene; H. jovis: trans-calamenene, α-selinene, β-elemene. The chemical results revealed the differences and similarities (qualitative and quantitative) between the studied oils, supporting the hypothesis that essential oils from Hypericum spp. do not serve as chemotaxonomic markers. Moreover, the essential oils were subjected to antimicrobial screening. According to the given results, the essential oils possessed better antifungal and anticandidal activities than antibacterial activities.

Wound Healing Effects from 3 Hypericum spp. Essential Oils

“…Even the main constituents never exceeded 19.0 % (α-pinene in HE). Regarding HE, its chemical analysis has been recently completed [14] and is presented in ▶Table 1 to facilitate the comparison. The Hypericum spp.…”

“…The 3 EOs were subsequently analyzed by GC-MS and finally stored at − 20 °C before being used for the in vivo experiments. GC-MS analyses and identification of the chemical compounds were carried out as described previously [14].…”

“…To obtain the EOs from HE and HT, the air-dried plant materials were subjected to hydro-distillation, according to the procedure described before [14]. The 3 EOs were subsequently analyzed by GC-MS and finally stored at − 20 °C before being used for the in vivo experiments.…”

Antibacterial, antioxidant potency and chemical composition of essential oils from dried powdered leaves and flowers of Hypericum revolutum subsp. keniense (Schweinf.)

“…keniense essential oil mixture obtained from leaves and owers for the rst time. However, the essential oils from other Hypericum species have been reported to have activity against a range of bacteria [40,41]. The antibacterial activity of essential oils extracts from H. revolutum subsp.…”

“…Compounds from these groups have antibacterial and antioxidant potency plants extracts that have phenolic and avonoid molecules, inhibit bacterial growth as well as preventing cellular damage the action of free radicles [33,59,60,61]. The extracts and essential oils from Hypericum species have demonstrated compounds with antibacterial and antioxidant properties [41,44,45,62].…”