Investigation of Anticancer and Antiviral Properties of Selected Aroma Samples

Abstract

Anti-tumor and antiviral activities of various aroma samples, including cinnamic acid, β-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, nerolidol (synthetic and natural samples), trans, trans-farnesol, farnesol (isomeric mixture), longifolene, geranic acid and a farnesol-rich ylang-fraction were investigated using HeLa and Jurkat cell lines. Using a CytoTox-96®-Assay we observed strong anti-tumor effects of natural- and synthetic nerolidol-samples at concentrations less than 5 μM. Furthermore, synthetic nerolidol reduced the number of HeLa and Jurkat cells to 50% (CC 50 ) at concentrations which were more than ten times lower compared with the effective doses required to achieve 50% cytotoxicity (ED 50 ). Antiviral studies were performed to investigate inhibitory effects of the compounds on mouse polyomavirus propagation in 3T6 cells. Remarkable inhibition of viral activity was demonstrated by synthetic nerolidol at CC 50 3.2 ± 1.5 μM and natural nerolidol at CC 50 1.2 ± 0.4 μM All other compounds, however, did not show any inhibition against this virus.