3.

Biological Assays and Chemical Composition of Volatile Oils of Bupleurum fruticosum L. (Apiaceae)

Andrea Maxia, Maria A. Frau, Bruno Marongiu, Alessandra Piras, Silvia Porcedda, Danilo Falconieri, Maria J. Gonçalves, Carlos Cavaleiro and Ligia Salgueiro

Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Viale Sant’Ignazio, I-09123 Cagliari, Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato, SS 554, Km 4.500, 09042 Cagliari, Italy.

Centro de Estudos Farmacêuticos / Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Coimbra. 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal

Abstract: The composition of supercritical CO 2 extracts and essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of Bupleurum fruticosum L., growing spontaneously in Italy and Portugal, and its antifungal activity is reported. The collected extracts were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS methods. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimal lethal concentration (MLC) were used to evaluate the antifungal activity of the oils against Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. guillermondii, C. parapsilosis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum, Epidermophyton floccosum, Aspergillus niger, A. fumigatus and A. flavus.

Keywords: Bupleurum fruticosum L.; essential oil; supercritical carbon dioxide; antifungal activity.