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Chemical Compositions and Cytotoxic Activities of Leaf Essential Oils of Four Lauraceae Tree Species from Monteverde, Costa Rica

Maria C. Palazzo, Brittany R. Agius, Brenda S. Wright, William A. Haber, Debra M. Moriarity and William N. Setzer

Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville , Huntsville , AL 35899 , USA

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama in Huntsville , Huntsville , AL 35899 , USA

Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO 63166, USA

Abstract: The leaf essential oils of four members of the Lauraceae Licaria excelsa, Licaria triandra ,Persea schiedeana, and Rhodostemonodaphne kunthiana, from Monteverde , Costa Rica , were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The leaf oil of L. excelsa was dominated by the monoterpenes a -pinene (42.9%), b -pinene (22.0%) and myrcene (17.2%), while L. triandra was also rich in pinenes (40.9% and 28.5%, respectively). Persea schiedeana had considerable amounts of the sesquiterpenes d -cadinene (18.5%), a -copaene (15.1%), and (E)-caryophyllene (13.3%). Rhodostemonodaphne kunthiana leaf oil had germacrene D (64.4%) and bicyclogermacrene (17.6%) as the major components. The leaf essential oils were screened for in-vitro cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 and Hs 578T human tumor cells. R. kunthiana leaf oil showed notable activity against MDA-MB-231.

Keywords: Licaria excelsa ; Licaria triandra ; Persea schiedeana; Rhodostemonodaphne kunthiana; essential oil composition; Lauraceae; a - pinene; b - pinene; d -cadinene; germacrene-D; bicyclogermacrene