Influence of Monoterpenes in Biological Activities of Nectandra megapotamica (Spreng.) Mez Essential Oils

Abstract

Investigating the influence of seasonal variations on biological activities is important for pharmacological studies and metabolic engineering. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the variation of the chemical composition of essential oils obtained from Nectandra megapotamica leaves, collected at different stages of plant development, as well as its influence on the biological activities. A total of 38 compounds were identified that accounted for 97–99.2% of the chemical composition of the oils. Major differences were observed in the monoterpenic fraction, representing 5.1% of the compounds identified in the productive rest phase to 37.1% in the blooming phase. Bicyclogermacrene and germacrene D were the predominant compounds identified in the oil of all collections. Furthermore, limonene, β-pinene, and spathulenol were identified predominantly in the samples of blooming and fruiting phases. The oils exhibited significant antichemotactic activity and different effects in scavenging the radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. Variations were also observed in the antifungal activity, with the minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 125 to 500 μg/mL. These results demonstrate the influence of monoterpenes, primarily limonene, α-pinene, and β-pinene, on the bioactivities of the oil. Studies investigating the variations in the chemical composition of essential oil may offer a strategy to produce a compound or a group of compounds of interest to industries with a specific pharmacological focus.

Chemical Composition and Immunomodulatory Activity of Hypericum perforatum Essential Oils

“…Various essential oils and their components have been reported previously to inhibit cell migration [ 24 , 50 , 51 ]. We found that pretreatment with HEO Fl or HEO Lv for 30 min concentration-dependently attenuated f MLF-induced neutrophil chemotaxis with IC 50 values of 5.7 and 5.2 µg/mL, respectively ( Table 4 ).…”

Essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis L. from West Highlands of Algeria: Chemical characterization and in vitro antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis

“…(Table 2) The antifungal activity of our essential oil might be related to their monoterpenes components which constitute dominant class of compounds in both leaves and stem, with oxygenated monoterpenes (84.9%, 52.4%) and monoterpenes hydrocarbons (12.2%, 8.4%) respectively. Besides a variety of biological activities of monoterpenes, EOs containing high amounts of oxygenated monoterpenes have also been reported to be important antifungal agents (Burt, 2004;Farooq, et al, 2002;Dias, et al, 2017;Danielli, et al, 2019). In addition, it is possible that antifungal activity of R. officinalis EO is due to cell membrane disruption by lipophilic compounds (Cowan, 1999).…”

Formulating Bioactive Terpenes

“…The monoterpene class was also addressed by Danielli et al [ 12 ] in a paper published in this Special Issue. The authors evaluated the influence of seasonal variations on the chemical composition of essential oils extracted from Nectandra megapotamica (Spreng.)…”

“…Another study with important triterpenes was published in this Issue by da Silva Júnior et al [14], developing inclusion complexes of α, β amyrin, a natural mixture of pentacyclic triterpenes with cyclodextrin, by two different methods. Physicochemical The monoterpene class was also addressed by Danielli et al [12] in a paper published in this Special Issue. The authors evaluated the influence of seasonal variations on the chemical composition of essential oils extracted from Nectandra megapotamica (Spreng.)…”

“…Interestingly, monoterpenes rather than larger terpenes are usually chosen to play the role of the "excipient" (Figure 1) [8]. The monoterpene class was also addressed by Danielli et al [12] in a paper published in this Special Issue. The authors evaluated the influence of seasonal variations on the chemical composition of essential oils extracted from Nectandra megapotamica (Spreng.)…”