GC-MS investigation and antiproliferative activities of extracts from male and female flowers of Schinus molle L.

Elisa Ovidi**a, Stefania Garzoli**b, Valentina Laghezza Mascia, Giovanni Turchettia & Antonio Tiezziaa Department for the Innovation in Biological, Agrofood and Forestal Systems, Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy; b Department of Drug Chemistry and Technology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy* These authors contributed equally to this work.Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2019.1644628.CONTACT Elisa Ovidi eovidi@unitus.it or Stefania Garzoli stefania.garzoli@uniroma.itAbstractThe aim of this study is to define chemical composition and antiproliferative activity of several compounds isolated from Schinus molle male and female flowers on human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) and human leukemia (HL60) cell lines. Three extracts obtained by using solvents with different polarities (petroleum ether, diethyl ether and acetone) were characterized by GC/MS analysis revealing qualitative and quantitative differences in the chemical composition of male and female flowers. Nineteen components were identified and both flower extracts were dominated by the sesquiterpene hydrocarbons fraction, mainly elemol, followed by bicyclic sesquiterpenes and by a smaller amount of monoterpenes. The biological activities of the extracts were evaluated by dose-dependent viability assay on two different cell lines and HL60 cells resulted more sensitive to the treatment. The presence of compounds at low concentration with a well-established cytotoxic activity such as β-elemene, β-caryophyllene and γ-eudesmol could exert a synergistic cytotoxic effect.