Essential oil constituents, anticancer and antimicrobial activity of Ficus mucoso and Casuarina equisetifolia leaves

Abstract

Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation of Ficus mucoso Welw. and Casuarina equisetifolia L. leaves and analyzed for their constituents by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The major volatile components of F. mucoso leaves were a-phellandrene (13.0%), p-cymene (11.3%), germacrene D (10.5%), b-caryophyllene (9.7%), 1, 8-cineole (9.5%) and a-copaene (8.7%). High levels of a-phellandrene (40.6%), p-cymene (15.7%), 1, 8-cineole (14.1%) and terpinolene (8.4%) characterized C. equisetifolia oil. Ficus mucoso oil demonstrated strong inhibitory activity against Hs578T human breast tumor cells (98.18%) relative to PC-3 human prostate carcinoma cells (47.17%); F. mucoso and C. equisetifolia essential oils also exhibited significant antimicrobial activity (39-625 μg/mL) on pathogens employed in the assays.