Antimicrobial and Antiproliferative Activities of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) Essential Oil and Oleoresin

This study was conducted to compare between chemical composition, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) essential oil and oleoresin. The essential oil and oleoresin were obtained by hydrodistillation and maceration techniques, respectively. The main constituents were analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The ratio of monoterpene hydrocarbons to sesquiterpene hydrocarbons indicated the higher quality of the essential oil and the oleoresin. The essential oil and oleoresin were screened for their antimicrobial activity against four pathogenic bacteria and two fungi strains. The black pepper essential oil exhibited higher antimicrobial activity than the oleoresin. In vitro, cytotoxicity evaluation against five cell lines of human hepatocellular, cervical, breast, prostate and larynx carcinoma, showed a potent anti-proliferative activity of the oleoresin with the lowest IC50 value belonging to the larynx carcinoma cells. The present results suggested promising cytotoxic, antimicrobial properties of the black pepper essential oil and oleoresin.