Croton gratissimus Leaf Essential Oil Composition, Antibacterial, Antiplatelet Aggregation, and Cytotoxic Activities

Essential oil hydrodistilled from the leaves of Croton gratissimus was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify the constituents by comparison of their mass spectra (MS) data and linear retention indices (LRI) with literature. Forty constituents corresponding to 96.7% of the total oil content were identified from the oil sample. The major compounds were sabinene (14.6%), α-phellandrene (12.3%), β-phellandrene (10.7%), α-pinene (6.05%), and germacrene D (5.9%). The essential oil exhibited stronger antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.6 mg.mL–1 (Staphylococcus aureus), 0.2 mg.mL–1 (S. faecalis), and 1.3 mg.mL–1 (Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus). In the antiplatelet aggregation inhibitory activity, the oil displayed action against the induced platelet aggregation in the order collagen (IC50 < 1) > thrombin (IC50 1.18) > Adenosine diphosphate (IC50 2.32) > epinephrine (IC50 3.65). The lethal concentration (LC50) of the oil at 8.52 mg.mL–1 was toxic to Artemia salina.