Chemical composition and evaluation of the antibacterial and Cytotoxic activities of the essential oil from the leaves of Myracrodruon urundeuva.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the in vitro activity of essential oil extracted from the leaves of Myracrodruon urundeuva. METHODS: The oil was obtained by hydro-distillation and characterized by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). The antibacterial activity was evaluated by the broth microdilution technique and the MIF was determined by using growth indicator CTT (2,3,5-triphenyl-tetrazolium) and CBM in BHI agar. The oil's cytotoxicity was evaluated in HeLa, HEK-293, and Vero E6 cells using MTT, 3- (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium. RESULTS: The oil showed chemical markers, including α-pinene (87.85%), trans-caryophyllene (1.57%), limonene (1.49%) and ß -pinene (1.42%), and activity against all strains: Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = MBC = 0.22 mg/mL), Staphylococcus epidermidis (MIC = 0.11 mg/mL and MBC = 0.22 mg/mL), Escherichia coli (MIC = 0.88 mg/mL and MBC = 1.75 mg/mL), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC = MBC = 7 mg/mL) and Salmonella Enteritidis (MIC = MBC = 0.44 mg/mL). In vitro cytotoxicity tests showed that the oil is not toxic and has slight antitumor activity. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the M. urundeuva oil results are promising, with prospects of being pharmacologically viable.

Effect of medium components and time of cultivation on chitin production by Mucor circinelloides (Mucor javanicus IFO 4570) -- a factorial study.

Chitin production of mycelia from Mucor circinelloides (Mucor javanicus) was studied with a two-level factorial design in all combinations of the following factors in the culture medium: time of cultivation, concentration of D-glucose, L-asparagine and thiamine. Chitin was characterised by infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The four factors showed statistically significant (95%) positive main effects on chitin production, without interactions between them. The highest chitin yield (23.9%) was obtained with the medium containing 60 g/l of glucose, 3 g/l of asparagine and 0.008 mg/l of thiamine and is comparable to the highest in the literature.