Composition and Activity against Oral Pathogens of the Essential Oil of Melampodium divaricatum (Rich.) DC.

Abstract

The chemical composition of the essential oil isolated from the aerial parts of Melampodium divaricatum (Rich.) DC. (Asteraceae) was characterized by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses. (E)-Caryophyllene (56.0%), germacrene D (12.7%), and bicyclogermacrene (9.2%) were identified as the major oil components. The antimicrobial activity of the oil against seven standard strains of oral pathogens from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) was evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) using the microdilution method. MIC Values below 100 μg/ml were obtained against Streptococcus sobrinus (90 μg/ml), Lactobacillus casei (30 μg/ml), S. mutans (20 μg/ml), and S. mitis (18 μg/ml). In contrast, the MIC values of the major oil compound (E)-caryophyllene were higher than 400 μg/ml against all pathogens, suggesting that the activity of the oil might depend on minor oil components and/or on synergistic effects. The M. divaricatum essential oil is a promising agent to include in anticariogenic oral rinse formulations for the control of oral pathogens.

Antileishmanial activity of Melampodium divaricatum and Casearia sylvestris essential oils on Leishmania amazonensis

“…The essential oils presented as main components sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (84.3% for MD-EO and 78.4% for CS-EO). E -caryophyllene (56.0%), germacrene D (12.7%), bicyclogermacrene (9.2%) and caryophyllene oxide (3.0%) were major components of MD-EO employed in this study, as previously reported 16 . The major components of CS-EO were E -caryophyllene (22.2%), germacrene D (19.6%), bicyclogermacrene (12.2%) and δ-cadinene (6.6%) (Figure 1 and Table 1).…”

“…M. divaricatum essential oil was obtained by Moreira et al . 16 . The EOs were stored in amber bottles and kept in the refrigerator at 4 °C until further analysis.…”

“…Plants and their metabolites are potential sources of new antiprotozoal drugs, and can contribute to overcome protozoan parasites drug resistance 10-12 . Many plant essential oils have demonstrated anti-Leishmania activity in vivo and in vitro against the promastigote and/or the amastigote forms 13-16 .…”

“…M. divaricatum, popularly known as ‘falsa-calêndula’, ‘flor-amarela’ or ‘flor-de-ouro’, occurs in Northeastern Brazil and is used in folk medicine as wound healing, diaphoretic and diuretic. The essential oil from the aerial parts of M. divaricatum showed antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and B. subtilis 16 . C. sylvestris occurs in Brazil and other countries of Latin America.…”

In vitro studies of the antibacterial activity of Copaifera spp. oleoresins, sodium hypochlorite, and peracetic acid against clinical and environmental isolates recovered from a hemodialysis unit

“…Effective medicinal plant use has contributed to disseminating information about their therapeutic importance and medicinal effects, validating therapeutic knowledge that has been accumulated for centuries. Nevertheless, the chemical constituents of medicinal plants are not yet fully known [ 8 – 12 ]. Identifying the active components of these plants should increase current knowledge about this inexhaustible natural source of medicinal compounds [ 13 ].…”