Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial, Hemolytic, and Antiproliferative Activity of Essential Oils from Ephedra intermedia Schrenk & Mey

We report the chemical composition and bioactivity of flowers essential oil of Ephedra intermedia (EIO) for the first time. The essential oil was obtained using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The essential oil composition was identified by chromatography methods. The minimum inhibitory concentration method (MIC) was chosen to investigate antibacterial activity of EIO. Hemolytic activity and the cytotoxicity effects of EIO on human cancer cells were also evaluated. The essential oil was dominated by 2-ethyl-pyrazine (67.37 %), gamma-elemene (9.21 %), benzyl acetate (9.10 %), 2-methyl-butyl acetate (5.28 %). EIO prevented the growth of 6 out of 7 selected microorganisms. The highest activity was observed against Enterococcus faecalis. Due to the low hemolytic rate (below 2.53 %) on humane red blood cells (hRBS); the safety of EIO as an additive for different aspects can be considered. On the other hand, EIO presented anti-proliferative effect on Hela, HCT116, and LnCap cells with mortality of 67 % to 81 %.