Chemical Composition, Larvicidal and Cytotoxic Activities of the Essential Oils from two Bauhinia Species

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistilation from leaves of Bauhinia pulchella Benth. and Bauhinia ungulata L. were analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The major components of B. pulchella essential oil were identified as alpha-pinene (23.9%), caryophyllene oxide (22.4%) and beta-pinene (12.2%), while in the B. ungulata essential oil were caryophyllene oxide (23.0%), (E)-caryophyllene (14.5%) and alpha-copaene (7.2%). The essential oils were subsequently evaluated for their larvicidal and cytotoxic activities. Larval bioassay against Aedes aegypti of B. pulchella and B. ungulata essential oils showed LC50 values of 105.9 +/- 1.5 and 75.1 +/- 2.8 mu g/mL, respectively. The essential oils were evaluated against four human cancer cells lines: HL-60 (promyelocytic leukemia), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), NCI-H292 (lung carcinoma) and HEP-2 (cervical adenocarcinoma), showing IC50 values in the range of 9.9 to 53.1 mu g/mL. This is the first report on chemical composition of essential from leaves of B. pulchella and on larvicidal and cytotoxic activities of the essential oils.