Commercial Carlinae radix herbal drug: Botanical identity, chemical composition and antimicrobial properties

Figures & data

Table 1.  Chemical composition (%) of Carlinae radix, Carlina acaulis and Carlina acanthifolia root essential oils [present study and the literature data (Chalchat et al., 1996; Đorđević et al., 2005)].

RI^a	Name	Carlinae radix (present study)^b	C. acaulis (Chalchat et al., 1996)	C. acanthifolia (Đorđević et al., 2005)	Identification method^c
	Heptane		0.5
936	α-Pinene	tr			MS, RI, CoI
976	Sabinene	tr			MS, RI, CoI
	Benzaldehyde		0.8
1028	p-Cymene	tr			MS, RI, CoI
	1,8-Cineole		tr
	1-Phenyl-2-propanone			0.2
1094	Fenchone	tr			MS, RI, CoI
1122	β-Thujone	tr			MS, RI, CoI
	(E)-β-Farnesene			0.4	MS, RI, CoI
	γ-Curcumene			1.1
1482	ar-Curcumene	0.2 ± 0.1	0.6	1.6	MS, RI
	α-Zingiberene			2.4
1486	(E,Z)-α-Farnesene	tr			MS, RI
1489	(Z,E)-α-Farnesene	0.1 ± 0.1	0.2		MS, RI
1509	β-Bisabolene	tr		0.1	MS, RI, CoI
1525	β-Sesquiphellandrene	0.1 ± 0.1	0.2	2.8	MS, RI
	(Z,E)-Farnesal			0.1
	cis-1-(2-Furyl)-2-phenylcyclopropane			tr
1609	Carlina oxide	98.9 ± 0.9	97.2	91.5	MS, RI
	[2-(3-phenylprop-1-ynyl)furan]
2143	(Z,Z,Z)-9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid	tr			MS, RI, CoI
	Total	99.1 ± 0.7	99.5	100

^aCompounds listed in order of elution from a DP-5MS column with retention indices (RI) determined experimentally by co-injection of a homologous series of C₉-C₂₂ n-alkanes.

^bPercentages given as average values ± absolute deviations of the components’ relative abundances (three oil samples).

^cThe identity of the constituent was determined by comparison of mass spectrometry (MS) and RI matching and confirmed by co-injection of an authentic sample (CoI).

tr, trace (<0.05%).

Table 2.  Minimal inhibitory and minimal bactericidal/fungicidal activity of the essential oil of commercial Carlinae radix (µL/mL).

Bacterial/fungal strain	ATCC	MIC (µL/mL)	MBC (µL/mL)	Tetracycline (µg/mL)	Nystatin (µg/mL)
Escherichia coli	8739	0.39	1.56	1.56	nt
E. coli	25922	0.78	0.78	1.56	nt
Klebsiella pneumoniae	10031	0.78	6.25	0.78	nt
Pseudomonas aeruginosa	9027	0.09	3.12	1.56	nt
Proteus vulgaris	8427	0.09	0.78	1.56	nt
Staphylococcus aureus	6538	0.02	0.04	0.39	nt
Candida albicans	10231	0.19	0.09	nt	6.25

ATCC, American Type Culture Collection; MBC, minimal bactericidal concentration; MIC, minimal inhibitory concentration; nt, not tested.

Figure 1.  Growth of a Staphylococcus aureus culture during the first 24 h of treatment with the essential oil of commercial Carlinae radix.

Figure 2.  Growth of a Staphylococcus aureus culture during the first 6 h of treatment with the essential oil of commercial Carlinae radix.

Figure 3.  Scanning electronic micrographs of Staphylococcus aureus cells after the first 24 h of treatment with the essential oil of commercial Carlinae radix (a) control (untreated cells), (b) treated cells with the MBC concentration of the essential oil. Collapsed cells forming amorphous debris. Arrows indicate shrunk cell remains after lysis.

Table 3.  Antimicrobial activity of Carlinae radix different extracts (%, v/v) against Staphylococcus aureus determined by the broth microdilution method.

Bacterial strain	Decoct (water)			Decoct (apple vinegar)			Decoct (white wine)
	MIC	MBC	Water	MIC	MBC	Vinegar	MIC	MBC	Wine
S. aureus ATCC 6538	3.1	3.1	na	0.7	3.1	na	1.5	3.1	na

ATCC, American Type Culture Collection; MBC, minimal bactericidal concentration; MIC, minimal inhibitory concentration; na, not active.

Chalchat JC, Đorđević S, Gorunović M. (1996). Composition of the essential oil from the root of Carlina acaulis L. Asteraceae. J Essent Oil Res, 8, 577–578.

 Google Scholar

Đorđević S, Petrović S, Ristić M, Đoković D. (2005). Composition of Carlina acanthifolia root essential oil. Chem Nat Comp, 41, 410–412.

 Google Scholar