Biological properties and chemical composition of essential oil from Nectandra megapotamica (Spreng.) Mez. leaves (Lauraceae)

Nectandra megapotamica is a tree species that naturally occurs in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. This paper aims to investigate the chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial, antileishmanial and antiproliferative activities of essential oil from N. megapotamica leaves (NM-EO). It displayed high antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans, S. sobrinus, Prevotella nigrescens and Bacteroides fragilis. NM-EO also exhibited high antileishmanial activity against promastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis. Its antiproliferative activity was evaluated against the following cells: GM07429A (normal cell), MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), HeLa (human cervical adenocarcinoma) and M059J (human glioblastoma). Its major components, which were determined by GC-FID and GC-MS, were α-bisabolol (13.7%), bicyclogermacrene (10.9%), (E,E)-farnesene (10.6%), Z-caryophyllene (9.5%) and (E)-β-farnesene (7.0%). These results suggest that N. megapotamica, a Brazilian plant, shows initial evidence of a new and alternative source of substances of medicinal interest.