Background:
Aristolochia triangularis Cham., popularly known as the "cipó-mil-homens", "angelicó" and "ypê-mi", is applied for the treatment of wounds, skin diseases (6,7), digestive and circulatory system diseases as an antipyretic and for malaria fever.
Objective:
In this work we investigated the chemical composition, the antimicrobial and antimycobacterial activities of the essential oils (EOs) extracted from A. triangularis fresh stems and leaves collected in Southern Brazil.
Methods:
Fresh stems and fresh leaves of Aristolochia triangularis Cham. were separately subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The chemical composition of the essential oils (EOs) were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The oil samples were evaluated for their antimycobacterial, antibacterial and antifungal activities against twenty-four microorganisms.
Results:
Hydrodistillation of fresh stems and leaves of A. triangularis resulted in 0.16% (w/w) and 0.37% (w/w) respectively of light-yellow oils. Germacrene D is found in 13.2 - 13.5% in both EOs. The constituent most abundant in the stems EO (19.18%) was the oxygenated diterpene ent-Kaur-16-en-19-al (10), along with E-nerolidol (17.89%). The main constituents of the leaves EO were bicyclogermacrene (24.79%), β-elemene (11.30%), E-caryophyllene (10.40%) and germacrene A (9.42%), in addition to the previously mentioned germacrene D. The stems and leaves EOs showed capacity to inhibit the Gram-negative Enterobacter aerogenes and the stems EO capacity to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus, with MIC values of 31.2 µg/mL. S. aureus was moderately sensitive to leaves EO, while stems EO displayed moderate activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Salmonella typhimurium (MIC values of 62.5 µg/mL). Candida glabrata was highly susceptible to both EOs (MIC values < 3.9 µg/mL). The EOs showed moderate potential to inhibit the growth of Cryptococcus gatti and Cryptococcus neoformans (MICs of 62.5 μg/mL).
Conclusion:
The A. triangularis essential oils from stems and leaves displayed capacity to inhibit Enterobacter aerogenes (MIC values of 31.2 µg/mL) and high antifungal effect against Candida glabrata (MIC values of <3.9 µg/mL). Mycobacterium massiliense and M. abscessus were susceptible to the leaves EO, with MICs of 39.06 μg/mL. These results showed the A. triangularis essential oils potential as antifungal and antimycobacterial to be used in the development of new antibiotic.
Isolation, Structural Elucidation of Three New Triterpenoids from the Stems and Leaves of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz) Baill.
