Essential oils of Psidium cattleianum Sabine leaves and flowers: Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities

Abstract

<b>Introduction:</b> <i>Psidium cattleianum</i> Sabine is a Brazilian native shrub cultivated for its edible fruit araçá (strawberry guava). <i>P. cattleianum</i> is recognized for health and food applications, although the essential oils (EOs) from the Egyptian inhabitant are not fully explored. The current study investigated the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of EOs from <i>P. cattleianum</i> leaves and flowers. <b>Materials and methods:</b> The EOs were obtained by three different methods <i>viz</i>; the conventional hydro-distillation, microwave assisted hydro-distillation, and supercritical fluid extraction, while their analysis was accomplished using GC/MS. The derived EOs were screened for their anti-inflammatory activity in the 5-lipoxygenase, COX-1, and COX-2 enzyme based assays, while the anticancer potential was deduced from MTT cytotoxic assay, cell cycle, and western blotting analysis. <b>Results and discussion:</b> Among other methods, supercritical fluid extraction offered the highest EO yield, 0.62% (leaves) and 1.4% (flowers). GC/MS identified β-caryophyllene and α-humulene in both organs with high but variable percentages. The leaves demonstrated strong activity in inhibiting the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme (IC50 2.38), while the flowers, in inhibiting COX-2 (IC50 2.575). Moreover, the leaves showed potent, selective cytotoxicity to MCF-7 cells (IC50 5.32) via apoptosis by modulating the p53/Bax/Bcl2 axis. The deduced activities are possible due to the synergism between the volatile components that endorses <i>P. cattleianum</i> leaves' EOs in the management of breast cancer and inflammatory disorders.