Bioactivity of essential oils from cultivated winter savory, sage and hyssop

Species of the Lamiaceae family have enjoyed a rich tradition of use for flavoring, food preservation, and medicinal purposes, due to their curative and preventive properties. Cultivated winter savory (Satureja montana L.), sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.) are produced for seed, herb, and essential oil. Dominant compounds in S. montana essential oil were carvacrol (43.2%) and thymol (28.4%), while cis-thujone (27.1%) and camphor (19.3%), followed by trans-thujone and 1,8-cineole were the major compounds in S. officinalis essential oil. As for H. officinalis essential oil, cis- and trans-pinocamphone (41.1% and 20.5%, respectively) were the most abundant compounds, followed by β-pinene. The highest antimicrobial properties, as well as antioxidant capacity, showed S. montana essential oil compared to other tested essential oils. Furthermore, H. officinalis essential oils showed higher antioxidant activity than that of S. officinalis. The aim of this investigation was to determine the composition and bioactivity of essential oils of mentioned varieties. Presented results show that S. montana essential oil could be proposed as a valuable source of natural preservatives

Novel insights to the anti-proliferative activity of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) co-treatment

The aim of this study was to characterize volatile and non-volatile compounds of rosemary from the North Adriatic region and to determine its antiproliferative activity, alone or in combination with radiomimetic bleomycin (BLM) on three malignant and one non-transformed human cell line. Chemical analysis of the volatile compounds revealed the presence of monoterpenes (93.8%), in which 1.8-cineol (32.9%) and camphor (15.5%) were the dominant compounds. Also, obtained results showed that the major polyphenolic constituents in rosemary extract were phenolic acids (rosmarinic acid and its derivatives up to 69.2 mg 100 g-1), as well as flavones and flavonols in the following order: luteolin>isorhamnetin>quercetin>kaempferol>apigenin. Cell growth test showed that rosemary extract alone exerted moderate antiproliferative activity, as well as a synergistic antiproliferative effect with bleomycin (EC50 344.3-461.5 µg mL-1 and 58.6-292 µg mL-1, respectively). The anti-tumor effect of rosemary extract in combination with BLM was much stronger, compared to BLM itself on the breast cancer cells. Through their proposed sensitizing effect, rosemary extracts, in combination with the standard chemotherapeutics, could be used for the investigations of possible therapeutic modalities