BIOACTIVE SESQUITERPENE OBTAINED FROM Schinus areira L. (Anacardiaceae) ESSENTIAL OIL

Schinus areira L. is a native species known by its medicinal value. It originates from the NW of Argentina and it is commonly known as ‘Aguaribay’. This study aims to evaluate the broad spectrum of antioxidant, antimutagenic and antipromutagenic activities of Schinus areira L leaves essential oil (EO) and one of its components, globulol. The chemical composition of the EO obtained by hydrodistillation was determined by GC-MS, and fractionated by RP-HPLC. The active compound (16.61%) isolated was identified by comparison of its ¹H and ¹³C NMR data with those reported in the literature.

The antimutagenic and antipromutagenic activities were evaluated in vitro and ex vivo, using the Ames assay with five strains of Salmonella typhimurium with and without exogenous metabolic activation (rat liver fraction S9), against different mutagens. The result determined that globulol and EO of S. areira at the applied doses do not exhibit any mutagenic effect and showed highest antioxidant activity.

In summary, the mutagenicity assay show that none of the samples induced any increase in the number of revertant colonies on the strains tested, either in the presence or absence of metabolic activation, indicating the absence of any mutagenic activity. These activities may be associated with the presence of antioxidant compounds, as globulol in the EO. The EO and globulol were able to reduce or inhibit DNA damage or mutations induced by cancer cells and disease caused by genotoxic agents.