Chemical composition and cytotoxic potency of essential oil from Seseli petraeum M. Bieb. (Apiaceae)

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and in vitro cytotoxic activity of the fruitessential oil of Seseli petraeum M. Bieb. growing in the Northern side of Anatolia. The Seseli petraeum essential oil wasobtained by hydrodistillation from the fruits and analyzed by GC/MS to determine its chemical composition. The majorcomponents have been determined as carotol (17.25%), γ-terpinene (10.73%), β-farnesene (8.50%), p-cymene (7.93%),germacrene-D (7.65%), and sabinene (7.31%). The cytotoxic activity of the essential oil was evaluated by MTT assay invitro on cell proliferation with MCF-7 (Human breast adenocarcinoma) and A549 (Human lung carcinoma) cells. Theresults showed that the essential oil has potent cytotoxicity against treated cancer cells, whereas it was more cytotoxicin MCF-7 cells (IC50=390.38 μg/mL). The results demonstrated that S. petraeum essential oil has a marked cytotoxic effectagainst treated cancer cells. Although this effect is likely to be caused by carotol owing to a major component of the oil,further designed studies are necessary due to the possibility of activity, and maybe it occurred due to the synergisticeffects of the oil components. The findings of this study may promote the use of the species for pharmaceutical purposes.