Chemical composition, antimicrobial and anti-cancer activities of essential oil from Vietnamese endemic Magnolia lamdongensis V.T.Tran, Duy & N.H.Xia leaves

The aim of this work was to investigate the chemical composition, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities of the essential oil (EO) isolated from Magnolia lamdongensis leaves. The EO from M. lamdongensis leaves was analyzed by GC-MS and assessed for antimicrobial and anticancer activities. A total of thirty-eight constituents were identified in the EO, among which the predominant compounds included premnaspirodiene (26.7%), 2-α-acetoxy-amorpha-4,7(11)-diene (14.6%), α-chamipinene (5.7%), and himachalol (5.6%). Principal component analysis placed the oil in a chemotype of its own among the Lam Dong endemic Magnolia species, set apart by its high premnaspirodiene content. The EO inhibited B. subtilis and C. albicans at the level classified as sensitive and S. aureus at the intermediate level, whereas E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. enterica and L. fermentum were resistant, producing no zone beyond the well or zones of negligible size. The cytotoxic activity of the EO was evaluated against four human cancer cell lines, namely KB, A549, HepG2, and MCF-7. The results demonstrated that the EO inhibited cell viability across all tested cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 28.00 to 42.18 μg/mL, indicating moderate cytotoxicity. On this basis, the leaf oil of M. lamdongensis merits further study as a source of cytotoxic sesquiterpenoids, particularly in the search for agents effective against treatment-resistant cancers.