Chemical composition and biological activity of Eupatorium intermedium essential oil

Abstract

This article reports a study on the extraction and evaluation of essential oil obtained from dried flowers of Eupatorium intermedium, a plant native to southern Brazil that belongs to the Asteraceae family. The hydrodistillation achieved a maximum yield of 1.01 wt% of essential oil. Regarding the chemical composition, by a qualitative analysis, the identified substances were α-pinene, sabinene, β-pinene, limonene, caryophyllene (E), germacrene D, spathulenol and caryophyllene oxide. The antioxidant activity of the essential oil obtained was evaluated using the DPPH method, phosphomolybdenum reducing method and total phenolic content. The total phenolic content was 4.26 mg GAE/g of oil. The antioxidant activity obtained by the DPPH method was 0.82 wt%, at a concentration of 250 mg/mL. The antioxidant activity obtained through the reduction of the phosphomolybdenum complex was 1154.69 mg α-tocopherol/g of oil. Antibacterial activity assays were performed using the agar well method. The oil presented antibacterial effects against the Gram-positive bacteria tested.

Keywords:

• Asteracea
• hydrodistillation
• essential oil composition
• antioxidant activity
• antibacterial activity

Acknowledgments

The authors thank CNPq, CAPES and Fundação Araucária (Brazilian Agencies) for the financial support and scholarships. The authors also thank Msc. Wanderlei do Amaral for collecting and donating the flower material.