Chiang Mai Journal of Science

Essential oil from leaves of Mesua ferrea L. was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by means of GC and GC-MS. The yield of obtained essential oil was at 0.064% and it was appearred  as yellow liquid. Thirty-five constituents were identified, constituting 81.4% of the total volatile components. The major constituents were trans-caryophyllene (30.9%), b-caryophyllene oxide (17.9%), α-humulene (6.0%), d-cadinene (4.1%), γ-muurolene (3.5%), γ-cadinene (2.3%), β-selinene (1.9%), germacrene D (1.8%) and β-bisabolene (1.6%). Antioxidant activity of the essential oil was evaluated by using the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radicals scavenging assay. The essential oil showed antioxidant activity with the IC₅₀ of 31.67 mg/mL. In addition, the essential oil exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with the MIC values of 250 and 125 mg/mL, respectively. This oil also exhibited anticancer activities against KB, MCF-7 and NCI-H187 cell lines with the IC₅₀ values of 24.02, 16.19, and 20.32 µg/mL, respectively, but it was non-cytotoxic to Vero cell line.