Volatile Composition and Biological Activities of the Leaf Essential Oil from Zanthoxylum limoncello Grown in Oaxaca, Mexico

Zanthoxylum limoncello is a native plant from southern Mexico which is used as a timber source, condiment and as a traditional medicine. Herein, we report on the volatile content of the leaf essential oil and its biological activities. The annual essential oils (2015-2018) contained volatile organic compounds which exhibited a moderate growth inhibitory activity against H. pylori ATCC 53504 (MIC 121.4-139.7 mu g mL(-1)), 26695 (MIC 85.5-94.9 mu g mL(-1)) and J99 (MIC 94.7-110.4 mu g mL(-1)). These hydrodistillates contained 2-undecanone (31.6-36.8 %; MIC 185.3-199.2 mu g mL(-1)) and 2-undecenal (25.1-35.7 %; MIC 144.8-111.3 mu g mL(-1)) as the most abundant compounds which were partially involved in the anti-H. pylori activity. The human ornithine decarboxylase enzyme (ODC1), which shows increased activity in several cancer types, was non-competitively inhibited (V-max 2.7>0.8 K-cat s(-1)) by the essential oil of Z. limoncello as well as by 2-undecanone and 2-undecenal in accordance to in vitro kinetic studies. In silico calculations strongly suggest that the carbonyl group of these oxygenated hydrocarbons interacts with both Asn319 and Ala39 at the subunit A of ODC1. Considering that Ala39 is located close to Asn44, a crucial amino acid of the ODC's allosteric site, the non-competitive inhibition of the enzyme by 2-undecanone and 2-undecenal is endorsed. Finally, the essential oil of Z. limoncello and its main volatiles showed a significant (p<0.01) and prolonged repellent effect against Aedes aegypti.