Chemical Composition and in vitro Evaluation of Antimicrobial and Anti-acetylcholinesterase Properties of the Flower Oil of Ferula lutea

• Published in: Natural product communications Vol. 7; no. 7; pp. 947 - 950
• Main Authors: Znati, Mansour, Jabrane, Aymen, Hajlaoui, Hafedh, Harzallah-Skhiri, Fethia, Bouajila, Jalloul, Casanova, Joseph, Jannet, Hichem Ben
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2012
• Subjects: Acetylcholinesterase - metabolism; Analytical chemistry; Anti-Infective Agents - chemistry; Anti-Infective Agents - pharmacology; Bacillus subtilis - drug effects; Chemical Sciences; Ferula - chemistry; Flowers - chemistry; Gram-Negative Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Positive Bacteria - drug effects; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Monoterpenes - chemistry; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Oils - pharmacology; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Antimicrobial; Anti-acetylcholinesterase; Chemical composition; Flower essential oil; Ferula lutea; GC/MS
• ISSN: 1934-578X; 1555-9475
• DOI: 10.1177/1934578X1200700738

The present work describes the chemical composition and evaluates the antimicrobial and the anti-acetylcholinesterase properties of the flower oil from the Tunisian Ferula lutea obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by combination of GC/FID and GC/MS. The chemical composition of the flower oil of this species is reported for the first time. Seventeen compounds were identified accounting for 94.3% of the total oil. The chemical composition of this essential oil was characterized by a high proportion of monoterpene hydrocarbons (80.4%) among which δ-3-carene (31.2%) and α-pinene (25.8%) were the predominant compounds. The oxygenated monoterpenes represent the second major fraction (12.0%), 2,3,6-trimethylbenzaldehyde (10.9%) being the predominant one. Furthermore, the isolated oil was tested for its antimicrobial activity using the disc-diffusion and the microdilution assays against six Gram-positive and five Gram-negative bacteria as well as towards eight Candida species. It was found that flower oil of F. lutea exhibited interesting antibacterial and anticandidal activity (MIC = 39 μg/mL against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis and MIC = 156 μg/mL against Candida albicans). The anti-acetylcholinesterase effect of this oil was also evaluated in this work. Results showed that this oil exhibits significant activity (IC50 =70.25±5.41 μg/mL).