Chemical Composition and New Biological Activities of Essential Oil and Hydrosol of Hypericum perforatum L. ssp. veronense (Schrank) H. Lindb

Abstract

The chemical profile, antiproliferative, antioxidant and antiphytoviral activities of the species Hypericum perforatum ssp. veronense (Schrank) H. Lindb. (Clusiaceae) were investigated. Free volatiles were isolated and the chemical composition was determined in the lipophilic fraction (essential oil) and for the first time in the water fraction (hydrosol). The aim is to provide phytochemical data for H. perforatum ssp. veronense useful for distinguishing ssp. veronense from ssp. angustifolium, as there are taxonomic disagreements between them and the composition of the secretory products may be helpful in this respect. In the essential oil, the most abundant compounds identified were α-pinene and n-nonane, while in the hydrosol, myrtenol, carvacrol and α-pinene were the most abundant. Overall, the class of monoterpenes and oxygenated monoterpenes dominated in the EO and hydrosol samples. The essential oil showed high antioxidant activity, in contrast to the antiproliferative activity, where the hydrosol showed exceptional activity against three cancer cell lines: Hela (cervical cancer cell line), HCT116 (human colon cancer cell line) and U2OS (human osteosarcoma cell line). Both the essential oil and hydrosol showed antiphytoviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus infection on the local host plants. This is the first report dealing with biological activities of hydrosol of H. perforatum ssp. veronense, and the obtained results suggest that this traditional medicinal plant is a valuable source of volatiles with promising antiproliferative, antioxidant and antiphytoviral activities.

Wild Species Veronica officinalis L. and Veronica saturejoides Vis. ssp. saturejoides—Biological Potential of Free Volatiles

“…Until the seventh day after inoculation, the inhibition of local lesions was still pronounced in all treated groups, with 79.09% and 68.38% on the leaves of plants treated with V. officinalis H and V. saturejoides H, respectively, and 62.70% on the leaves of plants treated with V. officinalis EO. We compared these results with the antiphytoviral activity of plant volatiles reported in some of our previous studies and studies by other authors [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Thus, essential oils isolated from the aromatic species Satureja montana ssp.…”

“…Leaves of Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Samsun systemically infected with tobacco mosaic virus were used to prepare the virus inoculum as described by Vuko et al [25]. Leaves of the native host Datura stramonium L. were pollinated with carborundum (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) before virus inoculation, and the inoculum was diluted with inoculation buffer to obtain 5-30 lesions per inoculated leaf.…”

“…Plants were then rubbed with the virus inoculum and treated once with the same spray solutions immediately after inoculation. The antiviral activity of the essential oil and hydrosol was evaluated by the percentage inhibition of the number of local lesions on the leaves of the treated and control plants as described by Vuko et al [25].…”

“…The essential oils of Hypericum perforatum ssp. veronense, Eryngium alpinum and E. amethystinum showed promising antiviral activity rates of 88%, 77.8% and 80.5%, respectively [22,25]. In addition, among the essential oils extracted from 29 indigenous Chinese aromatic plants, the oils of ginger, lemon, tea tree, tangerine peel, artemisia, and lemongrass caused more than 50% inhibition of TMV at the concentrations tested [26,27].…”

“…Various plant products such as essential oils, flavonoids, polyphenols and organic, alcoholic and aqueous extracts from plants and natural compounds from other organisms such as fungal metabolites, have been used against a number of plant diseases caused by viruses, phytopathogenic bacteria, fungi, plant parasitic nematodes and parasitic and non-parasitic weeds [15][16][17][18][19] with the aim of finding natural-based products useful for plant protection against pathogens. Some of our previous studies and studies by other authors describe the activity of plant volatiles as natural antiphytoviral compounds [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Since this activity of Plantaginaceae family volatiles has not been tested so far, we investigated the antiphytoviral activity of both essential oil and hydrosol of V. officinalis and V. saturejoides, with the aim of increasing the knowledge about the antiphytoviral activity of essential oils and especially hydrosols, which have been very little studied in this regard.…”