Volatile Profiling, Insecticidal, Antibacterial and Antiproliferative Properties of the Essential Oils of Bursera glabrifolia Leaves

Abstract

The present article describes the chemical composition and biological activities of the essential oils of B. glabrifolia leaves obtained in four consecutive years (2015-2018). The essential oils contained α-terpineol (17.9-29.7 %), α-terpinene (12.6-17.4 %), limonene (14.9-26.8 %) and β-pinene (2.1-16.7 %) as the most abundant volatiles. The essential oils and these volatiles showed a significant adulticide activity (p<0.01; LC₅₀ <100 μg mL^-1 ) on the maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) with a 100 % mortality rate within a period of 5 h. Also, the essential oils showed a strong antibacterial activity on Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 (MIC, 132.7-173.6 μg mL^-1 ) and Helicobacter pylori ATCC 43504 (MIC, 74.8-199.2 μg mL^-1 ). The assessment of the main volatiles revealed α-terpineol as the principal antibacterial agent (MIC, 78.6-149.7 μg mL^-1 ). Similarly, the essential oils exhibited a substantial in vitro antiproliferative activity on the human prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 (LC₅₀ , 15.2-19.4 μg mL^-1 ), the human ovarian carcinoma cell lines OVCAR-3 (LC₅₀ , 27.3-53.7 μg mL^-1 ) and the myelogenous leukemia cell lines K-562 (LC₅₀ , 32.4-75.9 μg mL^-1 ). α-Terpineol (LC₅₀ , 32.4-75.9 μg mL^-1 ) exhibited the strongest antiproliferative effect on these cancer cell lines (LC₅₀ , 22.4-48.1 μg mL^-1 ).

Keywords: B. glabrifolia; antibacterial activity; antiproliferative activity; biological activity; cytotoxicity; essential oil; insecticidal activity.