Antimicrobial Activity of Seasonal Essential Oils From Banisteriopsis Malifolia (Ness & Mart.) B. Gates

The use of plants for medicinal purposes is increasing nowadays and the leaves of the genus Banisteriopsis have medicinal uses by the Brazilian population. Despite the number of Malpighiaceae species, the chemical constitution of this family is not very well known, and the main focus of the phytochemical study is with Banisteriopsis caapi. Thus, the seasonal chemical compositions of the Banisteriopsis malifolia (Ness & Mart.) B. Gates leaves essential oils were determined and subjected to antimicrobial activity tests. Terpenoids compounds (56.0 %) and aliphatic alcohols (29.8 %) are present in large amounts in rainy season essential oil compared to the dry season (20.93 % and 20.48 %, respectively). On the other hand, the dry season essential oil exibited long-chain alkanes (18.43 %) and fatty acids (16.03 %) as principal compound classes and hexatriacontane (18.43 %) and palmitic acid (10.62 %) as major compounds. Phytol was the principal terpenoid compound present in both essential oils (52.70 % stood out in the rainy essential oil versus 15.80 % in the dry essential oil). In general, the EO of the rainy season presented the best antibacterial results (MIC values from 100 to 400 mu g mL(-1)) for all the tested bacteria. The compounds present in the rainy season oil may exert synergetic actions for the observed best inhibitory effects. Both essential oils had no promising anti-Candida activity.