Sesquiterpenes rich essential oil from Garcinia celebica L. and its cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities

Abstract

Garcinia celebica L., locally known as “manggis hutan” in Malaysia is widely used in folkloric medicine to treat various diseases. The present study was aimed to examine the chemical composition of the essential oil from the leaves of G. celebica L. (EO-GC) and its cytotoxic and antimicrobial potential. EO-GC obtained by hydrodistillation was analysed using capillary GC and GC-MS. Twenty-two compounds were identified, dominated by α-copaene (61.25%), germacrene D (6.72%) and β-caryophyllene (5.85%). In the in vitro MTT assay, EO-GC exhibited significant anti-proliferative effects towards MCF-7 human breast cancer cells with IC₅₀ value of 45.2 μg/mL. Regarding the antimicrobial activity, it showed better inhibitory effects on Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria and none on the fungi and yeasts tested.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Garcinia celebica L.
• essential oil
• sesquiterpenes
• MCF-7
• antimicrobial

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the USM Short Term Grant (304.PJJAUH.6313235) of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.