Essential Oils from Different Myrtaceae Species from Brazilian Atlantic Forest Biome – Chemical Dereplication and Evaluation of Antitrypanosomal Activity

Abstract

Chagas Disease (CD), caused by flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is a Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) that affect approximately seven million people worldwide with a restrict therapeutical arsenal. In the present study, the essential oils from 18 Myrtaceae species were extracted, chemically dereplicated, and evaluated in vitro against T. cruzi. From these, eight essential oils were considered promising (IC50<10 μg/mL and SI>10) against the protozoan: Eugenia florida, E. acutata, E. widgrenii, Calyptranthes brasilienses, C. widgreniana, Plinia cauliflora, Campomanesia xanthocarpa, and Psidium guajava. Multivariate data analysis pointed out (E)‐caryophyllene, α‐humulene, limonene, caryophyllene oxide, and α‐copaene playing an important role in the anti‐T. cruzi activity. The obtained results demonstrated the potential of essential oils of Myrtaceae species as valuable sources of bioactive compounds against T. cruzi.

Chemical composition of the essential oil of Myrcia loranthifolia (Myrtaceae) leaves grown in Atlantic Forest and Dry Forest of Brazil

“…Among Myrtaceae genera, Myrcia DC., a heterotypic synonym of Calyptranthes Sw., has been described as occurring in different phytogeographic domains, including Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Brazilian Dry Forest (Santos et al 2023). The chemical composition of the essential oil of some species of the genus Myrcia has also been described (Henriques et al 1997 Maiolini et al 2022). However, to our knowledge, the chemical pro le of the leaf essential oil of Myrcia loranthifolia (DC.)…”

The Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry and Bioactivities of the Corymbia Genus (Myrtaceae)

“…Acaricidal Activity: acaricidal activity of leaf EO against A. nitens larvae [65]; leaf EO and citronellal reduced R. microplus reproductive parameters and increased larval mortality [66]. Anti-Protozoal Activity: anti-trypanosomal activity of leaf EO against T. brucei [67], T. evansi [67] and T. cruzi [68]; anti-trypanosomal activity of EtOH extract against T. brucei [69]; anti-plasmodial activity observed against P. falciparum 3D7 and INDO strains [70]. Anti-Viral Activity: potent anti-viral activity against RSV observed in citriodolic acids A-C [50], citrioside A [52] and quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside [53].…”

“…leaf EOs are summarised in Table 2. The leaf EO of C. citriodora is the most-studied within the genus [18,28,33,36,56,58,60,62,[66][67][68]72,74,[76][77][78][79]81,82,105,106,, containing citronellal and citronellol as the major constituents, which have garnered significant attention for their various bioactivities (see Section 5) [152,153]. The bioactive monoterpenes α-pinene and β-pinene [154] have been Corymbia spp.…”

“…The leaf EO of C. citriodora has been shown to have anti-trypanosomal activity against T. brucei, T. evansi and T. cruzi [67,68], while crude EtOH leaf extracts have shown potent inhibitory activity against T. brucei and P. falciparum 3D7 and INDO strains [69,70].…”

Essential Oils of Aromatic Plant Species from the Atlantic Rainforest Exhibit Extensive Chemical Diversity and Antimicrobial Activity

“…The sampling and analyses of native plants in the current work is authorized by Sistema Nacional de Gestão do Patrimônio Genético e do Conhecimento Tradicional Associado (SisGen), under license permit AD0077F [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 …”