Cytotoxic Activity of Cunila angustifolia Essential Oil

Abstract

The Cunila angustifolia essential oil was obtained from fresh leaves by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS to determine its chemical composition. The essential oil presented pulegone (29.5 %) and isomenthol (27.0 %) as major components, and other compounds such as menthone (8.6 %), neomenthol (7.2 %), menthyl acetate (2.5 %) and caryophyllene oxide (2.0 %) were identified. The cytotoxic activity of the essential oil was evaluated by MTS assay, with the human cancer cell lines of the lung (A549), breast (MCF-7) and skin melanoma (SK-Mel-28). The assay showed the highest selectivity, to MCF-7 cell lines, with IC₅₀ equal to 34.0 μg mL^-1 , low selectivity for SK-Mel-28 cell lines, with IC₅₀ equal to 279.9 μg mL^-1 , and no mortality to A549 cell lines.

Keywords: Cunila angustifolia; essential oil; menthol; pulegone; terpene.