Chemical Composition and Cosmeceutical Potential of the Essential Oil of Oncosiphon suffruticosum (L.) Källersjö

Abstract

The South African medicinal plant <i>Oncosiphon suffruticosum</i> (L.) Källersjö is an important remedy used to treat chronic, respiratory, and skin ailments. From the essential oil (EO) extracted by the hydrodistillation, sixteen constituent components were identified with oxygenated monoterpenes: camphor (31.21%), filifolone (13.98%), chrysanthenone (8.72%), 1,8-cineole (7.85%), and terpinen-4-ol (7.39%) as predominant constituents. In the antibacterial activity study, the EO was found most susceptible against <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> with an MIC of 6.4 mg/mL; however, it showed the same activity against <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i> with an MIC value of 12.8 mg/mL. The sun protecting factor (SPF) of the EO was found to be 2.299 and thus establishing it as a potentially important cosmeceutical for sunscreen applications. This is the first report investigating the essential oil of <i>O. suffruticosum</i> for its chemical composition and skin-related in vitro biological activities viz antibacterial, antioxidant capacity, antityrosinase, and sun protection factor.