SCREENING OF THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY FROM ESSENTIAL OILS OF NATIVE SPECIES FROM THE ATLANTIC RAIN FOREST (SÃO PAULO - BRAZIL)

Summary The essential oils from Symphyopappus itatiayensis (Asteraceae), Myrciaria floribunda (Myrtaceae), Talauma ovata (Magnoliaceae), Psidium cattleyanum (Myrtaceae) and Nectandra megapotamica (Lauraceae) were assayed for antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities. All the oils tested were active towards S. aureus and P.aeruginosa and none of them could be considered active against E. coli. The oil of P. cattleyanum was the only one which significantly inhibited the growth of C. albicans (42%). In the anti-inflammatory assay, only oils active were those from P. cattleyanum and N. megapotamica and three of them caused toxic effects to the leukocytes, M. floribunda, S. itatiayensis and T. ovata. The antitumor assay showed that only the oils of N. megapotamica and M. floribunda were able to cause lethality higher than 50% to at least one of the cell line. The results indicated that the essential oils have a pharmacological potential as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antitumoral agents.