Caracterização química e atividades biológicas dos óleos essenciais de Allium sativum, Coriandrum sativum e Anethum graveolens

Abstract

Essential oils have received much attention because they contain a variety of volatile compounds that are responsible for their biological potential in several publications. The objectives of this work were to analyze the chemical composition and the biological activity of the essential oils from Allium sativum (garlic), Coriandrum sativum (coriander), and Anethum graveolens (dill). The essential oils were extracted using the hydrodistillation technique and characterized by GC-MS and GC-FID. The principal constituents found were linalool (93.28%), carvone (83.04%), and diallyl trisulfide (75.13%) for coriander (CEO), dill (EEO), and garlic (AEO) oils, respectively. The essential oils’ antimicrobial effect was evaluated against the bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and against the fungi Aspergillus carbonarius and Aspergillus ochraceus. CEO and EEO were observed to be the most efficient in controlling bacterial growth, showing a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 6.25 μLmL-1 and a minimum bactericide concentration of 12.50 μL mL-1. However, when using the disc diffusion method, it was observed that AEO completely inhibited S. aureus growth, as well as the growth of both fungi at all tested concentrations. For CEO and EEO, a dose-dependent relationship with the concentrations was observed for the antifungal activity. A decrease in acetylcholinesterase activity in the presence of AEO was observed, obtaining a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 9.67 μg mL-1, but no activities were observed in the antioxidant assays. Satisfactory results in the antioxidant assay using thiobarbituric acid (IC50) (8.02 μg mL-1) and in the reduction of the phosphomolybdenum complex (0.025 nm) were only observed with the essential oil from CEO. The AEO shows promise for the development of sanitizers, drugs and agrochemicals.