Identification of bioactive compounds and cytogenotoxicity of the essential oil from the leaves of Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth.

Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth, popularly known as “quince” and “velame”, has a high concentration of volatile oils in the leaves, and is widely used in folk medicine. The objectives of this work were to identify the phytochemical compounds and analyze the cytogenotoxicity of the essential oil from the leaves of C. heliotropiifolius Kunth. The oil was extracted by hydrodistillation and the phytochemical profile was detected by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. In the toxicogenetics analysis, Allium cepa roots were exposed to 1% Dimethylsulfoxide and Methylmethanesulfonate (MMS, 10µg/mL), negative and positive controls, respectively, and to C. heliotropiifolius oil at six concentrations (0.32; 1.6; 8; 40; 200 and 1000 mg/L). The phytochemical profile showed 40 chromatographic bands, and 33 compounds were identified. α-pinene (16.70%) and 1,8-cineole (13.81%) were identified as the majority. Some of these identified secondary metabolites have biological and pharmacological activities already studied as antiseptic, insecticide, viricidal, fungicidal, analgesic, sedative, and anti-inflammatory, among others. In the A. cepa test, oil cytotoxicity was observed at concentrations of 0.32, 1.6, and 200 mg/L and genotoxicity at 200 and 1000 mg/L with micronuclei and significant chromosomal losses. Based on the results presented here, it can be concluded that the essential oil of C. heliotropiifolius leaves has monoterpene hydrocarbons, and oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and oxygenated sesquiterpenes, in addition to having a cytotoxic and genotoxic effect on A. cepa cells.

Crotone heliotropiifolius Kunth，通称“苹果”与“维拉梅”，叶部含有高浓度的挥发性油分，被广泛用于民间医药。本研究旨在识别该植物的植物化学成分并分析Crotone heliotropiifolius Kunth叶部提取的精油之细胞毒性。精油通过水蒸气蒸馏法提取，其植物化学特征通过气相色谱与质谱检测。在毒理遗传学分析中，洋葱根被暴露于1%的二甲基亚砜和甲基硫酸甲酯（MMS，10µg/mL），分别作为阴性对照和阳性对照，以及Crotone heliotropiifolius油，其浓度分别为0.32；1.6；8；40；200和1000 mg/L。植物化学特征显示40个色谱带，并鉴定出33种化合物。其中，α-松油烯（16.70%）和1,8-桉树脑（13.81%）被鉴定为主要的成分。这些已鉴定的次生代谢产物中，部分已研究具有抗菌、杀虫、杀菌、镇痛、镇静、抗炎等生物学和药理学活性。在洋葱根实验中，观察到在0.32、1.6和200 mg/L浓度下精油具有细胞毒性，在200和1000 mg/L浓度下具有致突变性，表现为微核和显著的染色体损失。根据所呈现的结果，可以得出结论：Crotone heliotropiifolius叶部的精油含有单萜烃类、含氧化单萜、倍半萜和含氧化倍半萜，同时在对洋葱细胞的影响上表现出细胞毒性和致突变性。