The essential oils of Grewia Lasiocarpa E. Mey. Ex Harv.: chemical composition, in vitro biological activity and cytotoxic effect on Hela cells

The chemical composition and biological activity of the essential oil extracted from the fresh leaves and stem bark of Grewia lasiocarpa was determined for the first time in this study. The essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation and identified by GC-MS and FTIR. The antibacterial, antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of essential oils were determined. The major compounds identified were phytol (22.6%); a-farnesene (8.62%); n-hexadecanoic acid (7.24%); farnesol (4.61%) in the leaves, and 2-methylheptadecane (7.24%); heptacosane (7.60%); heptadecane, 2,6,10,14-tetramethyl (7.30%). The presence of aromatic, alkanes and phenolic compounds were revealed by FTIR analysis. The in silico oral prediction shows that some of the components are orally safe. The essential oil from the leaves showed cytotoxic activity at 1mg/mL(IC50 =555.70 mu g/mL) against HeLa cells. The oils exhibited no significant antioxidant activity (IC50 >1 000 mu g/mL) with <100 mg/g GAE of total phenol. The essential oils showed different degrees of activities against Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 314588) at 10 mu g/mL, 5 mu g/mL and 2.5 mu g/ mL. These results might provide a future reference basis for further exploration of more of its medicinal application.