First report on chemical composition and biological properties of volatile oil from Psidium firmum O. Berg leaves

Brazil has the greatest plant diversity in the world. Many species exhibit a wide range of phytochemical compounds which can be exploited in food, agronomic, pharmacological and medicinal plant industries. Therefore, the chemical composition and in vitro bioactivities of volatile oil from Psidium firmum fresh leaves (PfVO) were investigated for the first time. GC-FID and GC-MS analyses revealed 28 compounds in PfVO. The major ones were α-selinene (20.8%), β-caryophyllene (16.5%) and nerolidol (10.4%). Results showed that PfVO affected the growth of Leishmania amazonensis promastigote forms in a dose-dependent manner; its IC50 value was 14.05 µg/mL. PfVO also exhibited antibacterial activity against Salmonella enteritidis, Yersinia enterocolitica, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes; MIC values ranged from 25 μg/mL to 250 μg/mL. Moreover, PfVO promoted normal cell growth inhibition at 61.02 ± 1.97 µg/mL. Antiproliferative activity was observed against human tumor cell lines; IC50 values of MCF-7 cells, HeLa cells and M059J cells were 47.91 µg/mL, 73.78 µg/mL and 41.94 µg/mL, respectively. Results provided strong evidence of the promising potential of PfVO as a nature-based antileishmanial, antibacterial and antiproliferative agent.