Toxicity of essential oil of Satureja khuzistanica: In vitro cytotoxicity and anti-microbial activity

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of the essential oil of S. khuzistanica.

No	Component	RI	%	ID method
1	α-Thujene	925	0.21	RI, MS
2	α-Pinene	933	0.18	RI, MS, CO
3	Myrcene	981	0.16	RI, MS
4	α-Terpinene	1013	0.40	RI, MS, CO
5	p-Cymene	1017	0.51	RI, MS, CO
6	Limonene	1026	1.20	RI, MS, CO
7	Z-β-Ocimene	1036	0.18	RI, MS
8	γ-Terpinene	1053	0.52	RI, MS, CO
9	trans-Sabinene hydrate	1081	0.57	RI, MS
10	Terpin-4-ol	1163	0.27	RI, MS
11	α-Terpinole	1175	0.14	RI, MS
12	Thymol	1266	0.11	RI, MS, CO
13	Carvacrol	1282	92.87	RI, MS, CO
14	Thymyl acetate	1329	t	RI, MS
16	β-Caryophyllene	1425	0.40	RI, MS, CO
17	α-Humulene	1427	0.22	RI, MS
18	β-Bisabolene	1501	0.14	RI, MS
19	trans-β-Bisabolene	1522	t	RI, MS
	Total		98.08

RI, retention indices relative to C6–C24 n-alkanes on a DB-5 column; MS, mass spectroscopy; CO, co-injection with authentic compounds; t, trace, i.e. < 0.1% by MS, < 0.05% by CO.

Table 2. Anti-microbial activity of essential oils from S. khuzistanica.

Micro-organisms	S. khuzistanica^a		Carvacrol^a		Ampicillin^a		Nystatine^a
	IZ^b	IZ [mm]/µg	IZ	IZ [mm]/µg	IZ	IZ [mm]/µg	IZ	IZ [mm]/µg
B. subtilis	42.0 ± 0.2	0.420	43.0 ± 0.4	0.462	14.0 ± 0.4	1.400
B. pumulis	43.0 ± 0.5	0.430	42.0 ± 0.1	0.452	15.0 ± 0.3	1.500
E. faecalis	20.0 ± 0.2	0.200	22.0 ± 0.7	0.237	11.0 ± 0.3	1.100
S. aureus	30.0 ± 0.9	0.300	30.0 ± 0.2	0.323	13.0 ± 0.3	1.300
S. epidermidis	45.0 ± 0.5	0.450	49.0 ± 0.4	0.527	19.0 ± 0.5	1.900
E. coli	39.0 ± 0.3	0.390	38.0 ± 0.2	0.409	12.0 ± 0.2	1.200
K. pneumoniae	19.0 ± 0.7	0.190	23.0 ± 0.6	0.247	–	–
P. aeruginosa	11.0 ± 0.5	0.110	12.0 ± 0.8	0.129	10.0 ± 0.3	1.000
A. niger	0	–	9.0 ± 0.7	0.096			16.0 ± 0.4	0.530
C. albicans	24.0 ± 0.5	0.240	23.0 ± 0.9	0.247			18.0 ± 0.5	0.600
S. cerevisiae	31.0 ± 0.6	0.310	32.0 ± 0.6	0.344			18.0 ± 0.2	0.600

Results (shown as mean ± SD) were obtained from three independent experiments, each performed in duplicate.

^aTested at 100 µg oil/disc, 93 µg carvacrol/disc, 10 μg ampicillin/disc, and 30 μg nystatine/disc.

^bInhibition Zone includes diameter of disc (6 mm).

– = Inactive.

Table 3. Anti-microbial activity of essential oils from S. khuzistanica.

Micro-organisms	S. khuzistanica MIC^a	Carvacrol MIC
B. subtilis	0.23	0.23
B. pumulis	0.23	0.23
E. faecalis	3.75	3.75
S. aureus	0.93	0.46
S. epidermidis	0.23	0.23
E. coli	0.46	0.46
K. pneumoniae	3.75	1.87
P. aeruginosa	15.00	15.00
A. niger	–	15.00
C. albicans	1.87	1.87
S. cerevisiae	0.93	0.46

Results (shown as mean ± SD) were obtained from three independent experiments, each performed in duplicate.

^aMinimum inhibitory concentration values as mg/ml.

– = Inactive.

Figure 1. Cytotoxic effect of S. khuzistanica essential oil in JET 3, MCF7, Vero, and SW480 cells evaluated using an MTT assay. Results are presented as viability ratio compared to the control group (treated with DMSO). Values expressed as mean (±SD) of five independent experiments. *p <  0.05 and **p <  0.01; significantly different from the solvent (‘0’) control.