Assessment of the chemical constituents and biological activities of essential oil from eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh

Abstract

This study evaluated cytotoxic, phytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-leishmanial properties of essential oil (EO) extracted from fresh foliage of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., and its major constituent 1,8-cineole, and#946;-Pinene and and#945;-Pinene. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) revealed the presence of 25 compounds constituting 99.45% of EO, comprising of 36% monoterpenoid hydrocarbons and 22.3% oxygenated monoterpene. The major constituent was 1,8-cineole (17.1%) followed by and#946;-Pinene (16.5%), and significant quantities of and#946;-eudesmol (10.9%), limonene (9.5%), and and#945;-Pinene (7.9%) were also observed. The phytotoxic effect is due to the interference of oil with the mitotic activity, as revealed by the decreased mitotic activity of Allium cepa root tip cells when exposed to EO. Cell cytotoxicity concentration was observed to be highest in 1,8-cineole (CC50 gt 640 and#956;g/mL), followed by and#945;-Pinene (CC50 gt 320 and#956;g/mL), and#946;-Pinene (CC50 gt 160 and#956;g/mL) and EO (CC50 gt 20 and#956;g/mL). In anti-inflammatory potential by carrageenan induced rat paw edema model, maximum inhibition in and#945;-Pinene (85.6% at 500 mg/kg body wt. and 81%, 250 mg/kg body wt.) at 3 h, which was comparable to indomethacin (positive control)? and#946;-Pinene exhibited maximum anti-leishmanial potential with IC50 of 2.57 ± 0.15 mL. Antibacterial efficacy of EO and its constituents was found to be maximum in 1,8-cineole. The inhibition was more pronounced in gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. EO exhibited free radical scavenging as well as antioxidant activity. and#945;-Pinene showed maximum scavenging activity for DPPH radical. EO exhibited highest potential for reducing ferric ion compared to its major constituents. In OH radical, the activity was maximum in 1,8-cineole, it was least in and#946;-pinene. The study concluded that E. camaldulensis EO possesses significant anti-inflammatory and anti-leishmanial activity, suggested the use of EO and its major constituents as a green drug that is a safer alternative to synthetic compounds. newline