Volatilomic Analyses of Tuscan Juniperus oxycedrus L. and in vitro Cytotoxic Effect of Its Essential Oils on Human Cell Lines

Abstract

Chemical composition of different organs and cytotoxic potential of essential oils (EO) of Tuscan Juniperus oxycedrus, was studied in human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7), human chronic myeloge- nous erythroleukemia (K562) and a human neuroblastoma cell line derived from a highly malignant tumor (SH- SY5Y) cells. GC-MS analyses confirmed the prevalence of monoterpene hydrocarbons (MHs) class in all studied organs with α-pinene as the main compound. The relative abundance of this constituent ranged from 35.3 % in seed EO to exceed 50 % in the mixture (1:1) of leaf and fruit EO. Other MH compounds present in high amounts were myrcene (25.7 % and 10.9 % in seeds and fruits EOs, respectively) and limonene (11.9 % and 7.4 % in leaf and mixture EOs, respectively). Germacrene D, a sesquiterpene hydrocarbon, was the most abundant constituent of fruit EO (30.8 %). Leaf EO showed to be very active on MCF7 (IC50, 19.1 ppm) and K562 (IC50, 35.1ppm) un- derlining the time- and dose-depend way of action. The human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y) were almost exclusively sensitive to the fruit EO (IC50, 30.8 ppm).

Key words:

• K562
• MCF7
• SH-SY5Y
• Juniperus oxycedrus organs
• dose-time dependent