Melaleuca bracteata var. Revolution Gold (Myrtaceae) Essential Oil: Chemical Composition, Antibacterial, Membrane Damage, Antiplatelet Aggregation and Antiacetylcholinesterase Activities

Abstract

Melaleuca bracteata var. Revolution Gold (a cultivar of Melaleuca bracteata) is an ornamental plant, which has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases. Till moment, information is scanty on the biological activities of the essential oil from the plant. The water-distilled essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Antibacterial activity of the oil was evaluated by paper disc diffusion and micro-dilution methods. Cell membrane damage was assay using cytosolic lactate dehydrogenase released method. Platelet aggregation inhibitory activity was separately evaluated on Adenosine diphosphate, collagen, epinephrine and thrombin induced aggregation. Thirteen components representing 95.3% of the total oil were identified from the essential oil. Phenylpropanoids (82.9%) constitute the predominant class of compounds in the oil. On the whole, the oil displayed strong antibacterial action towards Staphylococcus aureus, moderate activity on Bacillus cereus and some strains of Escherichia coli. The lactate dehydrogenase released (0.78–47%) depicted the oil to exhibit low levels of membrane damage. The percentage platelet aggregation inhibition for the four platelet agonists was concentration dependent with thrombin > collagen > ADP > epi-nephrine. The acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (9.16%) indicated that the essential oil was not effective against the enzyme.