Composition & biological activity of Cyperus rotundus L. tuber volatiles from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

he present study was conducted to investigate the composition of the oil of Cyperus rotundus L. rhizomes collected in Saudi Arabia, and to evaluate in vitro cytotoxic, antimicrobial and mosquito mortality activities of both the oil and the alcoholic extract of the aforementioned plant. Nineteen compounds were identified by GC-FID and GC-MS, of which α-cyperone (21.1%) and 4-oxo-α-ylangene (12.8%) were the major components. The essential oil recovered with diethyl ether demonstrated potent cytotoxic activities against colon (HCT-116), hepatocellular (Hep G-2) and breast (MCF-7) human cancer cell lines with IC50s of 1.06, 1.17 and 2.22 μg/mL, respectively. This oil also showed a comparable zone of inhibition against the gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis and the gram negative bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella flexneri and Salmonella enteritidis when compared to the standard drugs ampicillin and gentamycin. The ethanolic extract showed moderate activity against human cancer cells and pathogens. The essential oil was significantly more toxic to 1st instar Aedes aegypti larvae than the ethanol extract; however, the ethanol extract was more toxic to adult Ae. aegypti than the essential oil. Based on the results obtained, C. rotundus collected from Riyadh city could provide a potential and cheap source of biologically active compounds.