Chemical composition and biological activity of essential oil from Mentha suaveolens Ehrh. leaves

Mentha suaveolens Ehrh. (Lamiaceae) is an aromatic herb, native to Southern and Western Europe, which is commonly used as culinary herb, as well as for aromatizing and traditional medicinal purposes. It presents itself as a potential source of raw material for extraction of essential oil and exploitation by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The present work is aimed at establishing the chemical composition and biological activity of essential oil of M. suaveolens. The essential oil of the dry leaves was obtained by hydrodistillation and the phytochemical analyses were done by gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The main compounds found in the essential oil were piperitone oxide (55.73%), cubebene (15.83%), terpineol (8.69 %), caryophyllene (6.73%), terpinenyl acetate (5.32%), and ledene (1.30 %). The results of antimicrobial activity showed that the essential oil was active against both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. Furthermore, the essential oil showed outstanding cytotoxic effects in both human epithelioid cervix carcinoma and triple negative breast cancer cell lines. Overall, these findings suggest that the essential oil of M. suaveolens leaves represents a potential source of medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer.

This work was supported by Junta de Extremadura and Universidad de Extremadura grants (ref. GR18040 and AV-3, respectively). J.E. and M.G. hold post-doctoral fellowships (ref. TA18002 and TA18029, respectively) from Junta de Extremadura. J.R.-P. thanks to Junta de Extremadura for the predoctoral formation contract (ref. PD18018).