Chemical Composition, Cytotoxic, Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Essential oil from Anthriscus caucalis M. Bieb Grown in China

The essential oil of the aerial parts of Anthriscus caucalis M. Bieb was obtained by hydrodistillation and its components were analyzed by using GC and GC-MS. Forty-six compounds representing 97.2% of the total oil were identified. The main constituents in the oil were identified as beta-Bisabolene (28.4%), Germacrene D (18.9%), (Z, E)-alpha-Farnesene (16.8%) and gamma-Muurolene (7.3%). In vitro cytotoxicity evaluation against two cell lines of HepG2 (liver hepatocellular cells) and MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma) cells showed a potent cytotoxic activity with the IC50 values of 67.50 mu g/mL and 55.83 mu g/mL according to the MTT assay. Furthermore, the essential oil exhibited a considerable activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli with the MIC values of 0.095 mg/mL and 0.105 mg/mL tested by micro-dilution method. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH and FRAP methods, and the essential oil gave an IC50 value of 0.451 mg/mL and a Trolox equivalent antioxidant concentration of 191.7 +/- 11.3 mu mol Trolox x g(-1) in DPPH and FRAP, respectively. The results indicated that the essential oil was relatively active and may be useful in food and pharmaceuticals after more detailed study.