Chemical composition and antiproliferative activity of leaves and stems essential oils of Ozoroa pulcherrima upon breast cancer cells MCF-7

The present work reported the results of the chemical study and the in vitro antiproliferative activity evaluation of the essential oils of Ozoroa pulcherrima (OP) on breast cancer cells MCF-7. The phytochemical screening carried out prior to the evaluation of the biological activities revealed the presence of several metabolites, mainly phenolic compounds (tannins, flavonoids) mucillages, saponins, sterols and terpens. The extraction yields of essential oils were very low (0.2 and traces respectively for OP1 and OP2). Essential oils extracted from stems and leaves of Ozoroa pulcherrima harvested at different times (OP1 and OP2), were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The investigated essential oil samples, obtained in very low yields, are potentially rich in hydrogenated monoterpenes (89.3 to 90.3%). The main identified compounds, regardless of the harvest period, were ?-pinene (30.70%, 42.68%), ?-pinene (25.23%, 36.23%) and myrcene (28.51%, 6.34%) respectively for OP1 and OP2. Fractionnations made upon the methanolic extract of Ozoroa pulcherrima lead to the isolation of lanosterol. Antiproliferative studies performed on cancer cell lines MCF-7 had shown essential oils of Ozoroa pulcherrima were active. Inhibitory concentration (IC50) determined were low 35 µg/mL for OP2 and may be related to the presence of this sample ?-pinene, ?-pinene and exceptionally limonene content.