Chemical composition and in vitro antileishmanial and cytotoxic activities of the essential oils of Ocotea dispersa (Nees) Mez and Ocotea odorifera (Vell) Rohwer (Lauraceae)

We investigate the chemical composition and the in vitro antileishmanial and cytotoxic activities of the essential oils extracted from the leaves of Ocotea dispersa (Nees) Mez (OD-EO) and Ocotea odorifera (Vell) Rohwer (OO-EO). On the basis of GC-FID and GC-MS, α-eudesmol (20.9%), valencene (10.2%), δ-elemene (9.3%) and isospathulenol (7.3%) are the major constituents of OD-EO, whereas safrole (36.3%), γ-cadinene (6.6%), camphor (6.5%) and α-copaene (6.0%) are the main constituents of OO-EO. Both OD-EO and OO-EO display significant activity against the promastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis, with IC₅₀ values of 4.67 ± 0.95 and 11.67 ± 2.16 μg/mL, respectively. The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC₅₀) of OD-EO and OO-EO to mouse peritoneal macrophages is 26.77 ± 4.06 and 49.52 ± 1.04 μg/mL, respectively. This is the first report on the chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from the leaves of O. dispersa. Our results suggest that OD-EO and OO-EO are a promising source of new antileishmanial agents.