Antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of the essential oil of Curcuma zedoaria

The chemical compositions of the essential oil of Curcuma zedoaria (Berg.) Rosc. were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and showed a high content of epicurzerenone and curdione representing 46.6% and 13.7% of the total oil, respectively. The essential oil was evaluated for potential antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonasa aeruginosa, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella typhimurium and Bacillus cereus. V parahaemolyticus was sensitive to the presence of the essential oil, while the most resistant strain appeared to be E. coli. Based on 3(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction and cell morphology, the essential oil of C zedoaria could inhibit the proliferation of human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells. These results suggest that the essential oil has the antimicrobial activity against some of Gram-positive and negative pathogenic microorganisms and the components of the extract lead to the apoptosis of human cancer cell line.