Antibacterial activity, antimutagenic activity and cytotoxic effect of an essential oil obtained from Amomum uliginosum K.D. Koenig

Abstract

The essential oil from the fruits of Amomum uliginosum K.D. Koenig has been commonly used in Thai herbal formula for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. However, the biological activity of the essential oil obtained from A. uliginosum fruits has never been reported. This study was aimed to investigate the pharmacological activities and cytotoxic effect of the essential oil derived from the fruit of A. uliginosum. The essential oil derived from the authentic fruits and the commercial fruits were prepared by distillation with the yield of 2.90±0.00 and 2.90±0.30% v/w, respectively. The chemical constituents of the essential oil were analyzed by GC-MS. Twenty one and 13 chemical compounds were found in the essential oil derived from the authentic and commercial fruits, respectively. The major chemical compound presented in the essential oil from both sources was bomyl acetate. The essential oil exhibited an antibacterial activity against gastrointestinal disorder-related bacteria with the lowest MIC of 75 μL mL-1 againstE. coli O157:H7 DMST 12743 and S. aureus DMST 8013. The essential oil exerted the cytotoxic effect on 3T3 fibroblasts with the IC50 of 0.0725±0.0045 μL mL-1. The strong antimutagenic effect in Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 was found at the concentration of 3.75 mL plate-1. These results scientifically confirmed the use of the essential oil derived from A. uliginosum for the medicinal purposes. Additionally, its potential application for the use as cancer chemoprevention is also indicated from this study. © 2012 Asian Network for Scientific Information.