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Edible wild plant Heracleum pyrenaicum subsp. orsinii as a potential new source of bioactive essential oils

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Abstract

Many Heracleum L. taxa (Apiaceae) are used as food and spices, and in traditional medicine. In this work, the chemical composition of Heracleum pyrenaicum subsp. orsinii (Guss.) F. Pedrotti and Pignatti root, leaf and fruit essential oils, their antimicrobial activity and cytotoxic effect on malignant and normal cells were investigated for the first time. The composition of the oils was analyzed by GC and GC–MS. Monoterpenes prevailed in the root oil, with β-pinene (38.6%) being dominant, while in the leaf oil, sesquiterpenes, mostly (E)-nerolidol (20.5%) and (E)-caryophyllene (17.0%), were the most abundant constituents. The fruit oil contained the majority of aliphatic esters, mainly octyl acetate (36.8%) and octyl hexanoate (22.1%). The antimicrobial activity was determined by microdilution method against eight bacteria and eight fungi (standard strains, clinical or food isolates). The best antibacterial activity, better than the activity of ampicillin, was shown by the root oil against Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The strongest antifungal activity, stronger than the activity of ketoconazole, was exhibited by the leaf and root oils against Trichoderma viride, and by the root oil against Aspergillus ochraceus. The cytotoxic effect of the oils, determined by MTT test, was prominent against malignant HeLa, LS174 and A549 cells (IC50 = 6.49–14.56 μg/mL). On the other hand, the oils did not show toxicity against normal MRC-5 cells at tested concentrations (IC50 > 200.00 μg/mL). It can be concluded that investigated H. pyrenaicum subsp. orsinii oils represent potential new raw materials for food and pharmaceutical industry.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia under Grants Nos. 173021, 173032 and 175011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Pharmacy, Vojvode Stepe 450, 11221, Belgrade, Serbia

    Ljuboš Ušjak, Silvana Petrović & Milica Drobac

  2. Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Marina Soković & Ana Ćirić

  3. Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Pasterova 14, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Tatjana Stanojković

  4. Natural History Museum, Njegoševa 51, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Marjan Niketić

Authors
  1. Ljuboš Ušjak
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  2. Silvana Petrović
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  3. Milica Drobac
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  4. Marina Soković
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  5. Tatjana Stanojković
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  6. Ana Ćirić
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  7. Marjan Niketić
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Correspondence to Silvana Petrović.

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Ušjak, L., Petrović, S., Drobac, M. et al. Edible wild plant Heracleum pyrenaicum subsp. orsinii as a potential new source of bioactive essential oils. J Food Sci Technol 54, 2193–2202 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2610-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2610-z

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