Chemical compositions and cytotoxicity effects of essential oils from the leaves and pseudo-stems of Curcuma zedoaroides Chaveer. & Tanee collected in Vietnam

In this study, chemical components and cytotoxic effects of essential oils from Curcuma zedoaroides Chaveer. & Tanee growing wild in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam, were investigated. The essential oils of C. zedoaroides were obtained through hydrodistillation with contents of 0.38% and 0.1% in C. zedoaroides leaves (CZL) and C. zedoaroides pseudo-stems (CZPS), respectively (based on dried herbal materials). Using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis, 48 volatile compounds were identified in the CZL essential oil. The major components of the CZL essential oil were curdione (14.05%), 1,8-cineole (8.88%), camphor (7.06%), trans-beta-elemenone (6.65%), (E)-beta-farnesene epoxide (6.44%), curzerene (5.20%), isoborneol (4.75%), beta-elemene (3.41%), endo-borneol (3.07%), camphene (2.87%), humulene (2.47%), and gamma-elemene (2.22%). Besides, 47 components were determined in the CZPS essential oil with the significant components of curzerene (11.72%), trans-beta-elemenone (10.64%), curdione (9.79%), beta-elemene (6.77%), (E)-beta-farnesene epoxide (6.71%), humulene (6.37%), cis-beta-elemenone (3.81%), gamma-elemene (3.55%), camphor (3.41%), germacrone (2.83%), and isoborneol (2.39%). The CZL essential oil showed weak cytotoxic activity against tested cancer cell lines (A549, MCF-7, HepG2, HT29, HL-60, K562, and MDA-MB-231) with IC50 values in the range of 43.88 to 81.32 mu g/mL. This study is the first information on the chemical compositions of the CZL and CZPS essential oils of C. zedoaroides, as well as the cytotoxicity of the CZL essential oil.