Pink pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) essential oil: phytochemical composition and cytotoxic activity

Pink pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) is a native species native from Central and South America that produces an essential oil (EOpp) with promising applications. This work aimed to investigate the chemical composition and cytotoxic activity of EOpp extracted from unripe (U-EOpp) and ripe (R-EOpp) pink pepper fruits. U-EOpp and R-EOpp were extracted using the hydrodistillation technique and analysed using NMR and GC-MS. U-EOpp and R-EOpp cytotoxic activity was assessed using HL-60 (acute promyelocytic leukemia) and SK-MEL-28 (malignant melanoma) cell lines by MTT assay. Results showed that alpha-pinene (29.16%), dl-Limonene (20.65%), and rho-cymene (15.86%) were U-EOpp major components. In addition, l-phellandrene (38.91%), Sylvestrene (23.02%), and alpha-pinene (21.62%) were R-EOpp major components. U-EOpp showed cytotoxic activity at 37.5 and 18.7 mu g/mL for SK-MEL-28 and HL-60, respectively. R-EOpp showed cytotoxic activity for HL-60 at 100 mu g/mL. Therefore, EOpp may represent a remarkable source of active natural compounds used in traditional Brazilian medicine.

Automated summary

The study revealed that EOpp extracted from pink pepper fruits contains various chemical components and exhibits cytotoxic activity, suggesting its potential as an important source of active natural compounds in traditional Brazilian medicine.