Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of the Essential Oil from Aristolochia fordiana Hemsl

The present study investigated the chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of Aristolochia fordiana Hemsl (AF-EO) using GC-FID and GC-MS, and evaluated the in vitro biological activities of the essential oil. Forty-nine compounds representing 99.6% of the total oil were characterized. The main constituents were identified as beta-chamigrene (17.0%), beta-caryophyllene (11.1%), alpha-bulnesene (11.0%) and beta-pinene (10.2%). Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of the essential oil of A. fordiana was studied using disc diffusion and micro-broth dilution assays. AF-EO exhibited a significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis with MIC values below 100 mu g/mL. Besides, the results of MTT assays indicated that the essential oil exhibited a moderate cytotoxic activity on HepG2 (liver hepatocellular cells) and MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma cells) cell lines. However, the AF-EO showed a weak antioxidant activity in DPPH center dot, ABTS(center dot+) and FRAP assays.