Essential oil from the leaves of Guatteria australis was obtained by hydrodistillation, analyzed by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectromery (GC-MS) and their antiproliferative, antileishmanial, antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities were also evaluated. Twenty-three compounds were identified among which germacrene B (50.66%), germacrene D (22.22%) and (E)-caryophyllene (8.99%) were the main compounds. The highest antiproliferative activity was observed against NCI-ADR/RES (TGI = 31.08 μg/ml) and HT-29 (TGI = 32.81 μg/ml) cell lines. It also showed good antileishmanial activity against Leishmania infantum (IC50 = 30.71 μg/ml). On the other hand, the oil exhibited a small effect against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, S. aureus ATCC 14458 and Escherichia coli ATCC 10799 (MIC = 250 μg/ml), as well as small antioxidant activity (457 μmol TE/g) assessed through ORACFL assay. These results represent the first report regarding chemical composition and bioactivity of G. australis essential oil.
Keywords: Annonaceae; Guatteria australis; bioactivity; essential oil.