Antitumor and antibacterial activity of four fractions from Heracleum persicum Desf. and Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume

Abstract

At the present study tumor inhibition and antibacterial activity of the essential oils of Heracleum persicum and Cinnamomum zeylanicum was investigated. Methanol and petroleum ether were extracted from C. zeylanicum by potato disk method. These fractions showed cytotoxic effects in brine shrimp lethality assay (BSL). The authors found both H. persicum (57.16 %) and C. zeylanicum (72.90) had inhibition effects on Agrobacterium tumefaciens which induced crown gall tumor on potato disk. These oils also exhibited antitumor activity where IC50 was applied and the values were 2.24 and 1.20 mg/mL, respectively, for H. persicumand C. zeylanicum. C. zeylanicum also inhibited the growth of all tested Gram- positive and Gram-negative strains. In all, the findings of the present study completely correspond to the results obtained in brine shrimp lethality.   Key words: Crown gall, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Heracleum persicum,Cinnamomum zeylanicum, essential oil.