Variability of essential oil composition and biological activities of Lantana rhodesiensis Moldenke from Côte d'Ivoire.

Abstract

Lantana rhodesiensis Moldenke is an herb or small shrub under two meters tall which is often multi-stemmed 1. It is used in traditional medicine for several treatments like diabetes1, rheumatism2, and arterial hypertension3. The aim of the present study was to determine the variation in the chemical composition of essential oils of L. rhodesiensis from Côte d’Ivoire. It also aimed to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of essential oils. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation from leaves, stems and fruits of L. rhodesiensis from two localities of Northern Côte d’Ivoire. Essential oil composition was determined by GC-MS. The study of the antioxidant activity of leave essential oils was carried out by the DPPH and FRAP method; the anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by the inhibition of protein denaturation method. Results showed that the main constituents present in most essential oils extracted from leaves, fruits and stems were β-caryophyllene, α-copaene, δ-cadinene and α-humulene. However, thymol was the major component in three leave samples. The stem oils are also dominated by caryophyllene oxide or thymol. It may be concluded that the sesquiterpenes were the predominant molecules in all essential oil samples of L. rhodesiensis from Northern Côte d'Ivoire. The results of the biological activities carried out on the leave essential oil samples showed that these oils have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. This study showed the interest of L. rhodesiensis for the treatment of rheumatism and diabetes in traditional medicine. L. rhodesiensis is a potential source for isolating new antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecules. 1. Piero, N. M. et al. J Dev. Drugs 4, 2 (2015). 2. Ruffo CK, Birnie A, Tengnas B. Edible wild plants of Tanzania p418 (2002). 3. JeanBangou, M., Kiendrebeogo, M., Compaoré, M. & Coulibaly, A. Y. J. Biol. Sci. 11, 31–38 (2011)