GC–MS analysis of essential oil of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. (Chir pine) needles and evaluation of antibacterial and anti-proliferative properties

Abstract

The present study was carried out to analyse the biological properties and chemical composition by GC-MS analysis of the essential oil of the needles of Pinus roxburghii. Sixteen components were identified from their fragmentation pattern in the essential oil. Major component present in the essential oil belonged to monoterpene (84.38 %), oxygenated monoterpene (4.23 %) and Sesquiterperne (11.35 %) category. The antibacterial potential was analysed by paper disc diffusion assay against 5 gram-positive bacteria and 5 gram-negative bacteria. Oil showed a broad spectrum of activity by inhibiting all the 5 gram-positive bacteria and 2 gram-negative bacteria viz., Escherichia coli and Campylobacter coli. The antiproliferative property was measured against A-549 (lung), T98G (glioblastoma), PC-3 (prostate) and T47D (breast) human cancer cell lines by Sulphorhodamine-B assay. Here, the essential oil exhibited cytotoxic properties against human cancer cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 161.30 μg/mL and 154.30 μg/mL for A549 and T98G respectively. The results suggest that active component of the essential oil of Pinus roxburghii possess antimicrobial and antiproliferative properties which may be useful for food preservation, pharmaceutical treatment and natural therapies.