The chemical compositions of essential oils (EOs) extracted from Curcuma kwangsiensis rhizomes collected from six natural habitats in P. R. China were evaluated using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Fifty-seven components were identified from the six EOs, and their main constituents were 8,9-dehydro-9-formyl-cycloisolongifolene (2.37 - 42.59%), germacrone (6.53 - 22.20%), and l-camphor (0.19 - 6.12%). The six EOs exhibited different DPPH radical-scavenging activities (IC50 , 2.24 - 31.03 μg/ml), with the activity of most of EOs being much higher than that of Trolox C (IC50 , 10.49 μg/ml) and BHT (IC50 , 54.13 μg/ml). Most EOs had potent antimicrobial effects against the tested bacteria and fungus. They also exhibited cytotoxicity against B16 (IC50 , 4.44 - 147.4 μg/ml) and LNCaP cells (IC50 , 73.94 - 429.25 μg/ml). The EOs showed excellent anti-inflammatory action by significantly downregulating expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, cyclooxygenase-2, and tumor necrosis factor-α. This study provides insight into the interrelation among growth location, phytoconstituents, and bioactivities, and the results indicate the potential of C. kwangsiensis as natural nutrients, medicines, and others additives.
Keywords: Curcuma kwangsiensis; Anti-inflammatory activities; Cytotoxic activities; Essential oils; Phytoconstituents; Radical-scavenging activities.
© 2017 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.