Phytochemical profile, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oil extracted from Ecuadorian species Piper ecuadorense sodiro

Abstract

In the present research, the essential oil from Piper ecuadorense was analysed by GC/MS and GC/FID techniques. A total of forty-four chemical compounds were identified which represent 98.65% of the essential oil composition. The main compounds were bicyclogermacrene (12.98%), 3-thujopsanone (11.59%), α-phellandrene (6.89%), (E)-nerolidol (6.88%), δ-elemene (6.83%) and shyobunol (5.79%). The essential oil from P. ecuadorense exerted a strong activity against Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) with an MIC of 250 μg/mL, and a very strong activity against Trichophyton rubrum (ATCC 28188) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (ATCC 28185) with an MIC of 62.5 μg/mL in both cases. The antioxidant activity of essential oil was explored using DPPH and ABTS method, through ABTS assay. The oils showed an IC₅₀ of 1.81 ± 0.09 mg/mL. This is the first report on the chemical composition and biological activity of essential oil from this species.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Essential oil
• Piper ecuadorense
• bicyclogermacrene
• antioxidant activities
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Trichophyton rubrum
• Trichophyton mentagrophytes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.