Composition and bioactivity of the leaf essential oil of Heteropyxis dehniae from Zimbabwe

The leaf oil of Heteropyxis dehniae Suess. (Heteropyxidaceae) was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GUMS. The most abundant essential oil components are linalool (58.3%), 4-terpineol (9.8%), alpha-terpineol (3.6%), and caryophyllene oxide (3.1%). The antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Stapphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus niger, and the in vitro cytotoxicity of the oil on PC-3, MDA-MB-231, Hs 578T, MCF7, SK-MEL-28, and 5637 human tumor cells were also examined. Caryophyllene oxide shows notable cytotoxic activity with LC50 values of 147-351 muM. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.