Chemical constituents, antioxidant and anticancer activity of Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf essential oil and its nanoemulsion

Abstract

This article presents the effect of Cymbopogon citratus essential oil (EOCC) and its nanoemulsion on antioxidant and anticancer activity in vitro. The leaves of C. citratus were collected in the state of Maranhão and its essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation. The compounds present in the EOCC were identified and quantified by GC-MS with flame ionization detector. The EOCC nanoemulsion was formulated by phase inversion method. The antioxidant activity was performed for EOCC and NEOCC by the ABTS and DPPH root elimination assays. The in vitro anticancer activity was also evaluated for EOCC and NEOCC against tissue cells: colon, lung, liver, cervix, prostate, oral and neuroblastoma. The yield obtained was 0.92%, being geranial and neral identified as the majority of this composition through the GC-MS assay. The nanoemulsion obtained was stable with droplet size of 57 nm, zeta potential -21.15 mV, polydispersity index of 0.21 and pH 4.77. The EOCC and NEOCC showed strong antioxidant activity with IC50 ranging from 14.84 to 38.36 μg/mL. The EOCC and NEOCC showed significant cytotoxic activity against all cell lines used in the study, with the greatest effects against the cell line 502713 (colon), IMR-32 (neuroblastoma), Hep-2 (liver) and SiHa (cervix) with IC₅₀ values of 1.96; 2,20; 2.24 and 3.04 μg/mL, respectively. These findings suggest that EOCC and NEOCC may be alternatives to innovative therapies.