Chemical Profiles and Cytotoxic Activities of Essential Oils from Six Species of Baccharis Subgenus Coridifoliae (Asteraceae)

Several Baccharis species are popularly known in traditional medicine as "carquejas", "vassouras", "ervas-santas" and "mio-mios", and are used as anti-inflammatories, digestives, and diuretics. This study aimed to investigate the chemical compositions and cytotoxic activities of essential oils (EOs) of six Baccharis species belonging to subgenus Coridifoliae, namely B. albilanosa, B. coridifolia, B. erigeroides, B. napaea, B. ochracea, and B. pluricapitulata. GC/MS analyses of the EOs showed that the oxygenated sesquiterpenes spathulenol (7.32-38.22 %) and caryophyllene oxide (10.83-16.75 %) were the major components for all the species. The EOs of almost all species were cytotoxic against cancer (BT-549, KB, SK-MEL and SK-OV-3) and normal kidney (VERO and LLC-PK1) cell lines, whereas B. erigeroides EO showed cytotoxicity only against LLC-PK1. This article augments the current knowledge about the chemical-biological properties of Baccharis subgenus Coridifoliae and discusses the therapeutic potentials of these economically unexploited plants.