In Vitro Cytotoxic, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Essential Oil of Leaves of Laurus nobilis L.Grown in Egypt and its Chemical Composition

摘要

In this study, the essential oil (EO) of leaves of Laurus nobilis L. (family Lauraceae) was evaluated as a new source of EO under Egyptian conditions. The EO was extracted by hydrodistillation yielding 0.5-0.8% (v/w). The EO was analyzed by GC/MS. Fifty three compounds were identified accounting for 96% of the total EO constituents. The fresh EO contains approximately 50.38% 1,8-cineole. Other major oxygenated monoterpenes were a-terpenyl acetate (19.97 %) and 4-terpineol (6.48%). alpha-Terpenine, gamma-eudesmole, alpha-terpineole, and 3-carene were identified in concentrations above 1%. Minor qualitative and quantitative differences were reported in the constituents of the leaf EO after cold storage (4°C) for one year. The in vitro cytotoxicity ofthe EO on five human cancer cell lines (Hela, U-251, HepG2, MCF7 and H460) was examined. The EO was found to be very active against all five cell lines tested. The EO was also found to possess antioxidant activity as demonstrated by the l-diphenyl-2 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical method. The antimicrobial activities of the EO were tested using the inverted Petri-plate method. The EO showed prominent antimicrobial activities at a very low concentration (100 mu l).