Extracts of three Laserpitium L. species and their principal components laserpitine and sesquiterpene lactones inhibit microbial growth and biofilm formation by oral Candida isolates.

Antimicrobial properties of extracts of underground parts of three Laserpitium L. (Apiaceae) species, namely Laserpitium latifolium L., Laserpitium zernyi Hayek and Laserpitium ochridanum Micevski, were investigated. The investigated species are widely used as functional foods, as spices and for preparations in traditional medicine for treating complaints connected with infection and inflammation. Furthermore, antimicrobial and antibiofilm effects of laserpitine, the most abundant compound in the chloroform extract of L. latifolium, and guaianolide sesquiterpene lactones, such as, isomontanolide, montanolide and tarolide, principal components of the extracts of L. zernyi and L. ochridanum were assessed. The antimicrobial activity was tested using the microdilution method against five pathogenic bacteria and five fungi, as well as in the microplate biofilm assay on two Candida clinical isolates (C. albicans and C. krusei). Among the extracts, L. latifolium showed the most prominent activity. Isolated metabolites exerted higher effects against fungal than against bacterial strains, isomontanolide being the most active. Interestingly, all constituents showed higher potential on inhibition of biofilm formation than fluconazole, a reference compound. Tested metabolites may be good novel agents with high antifungal and antibacterial potential that might find practical applications in food industry as food preservatives in order to retard the growth of food spoiling microbes, but only after detailed safety assessments.

[1]  M. Couladis,et al.  Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential Oils of Laserpitium latifolium L. and L. ochridanum Micevski (Apiaceae) , 2015, Chemistry & biodiversity.

[2]  J. Glamočlija,et al.  In situ antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of naturally occurring caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and rutin, using food systems. , 2013, Journal of the science of food and agriculture.

[3]  M. Mojović,et al.  Chemical composition and biological activity of Gaultheria procumbens L. essential oil , 2013 .

[4]  S. van Calenbergh,et al.  Sesquiterpene lactones from the extracts of two Balkan endemic Laserpitium species and their cytotoxic activity. , 2013, Phytochemistry.

[5]  H. Suenaga,et al.  Comparison of the WST-8 colorimetric method and the CLSI broth microdilution method for susceptibility testing against drug-resistant bacteria. , 2012, Journal of microbiological methods.

[6]  Hui Guo,et al.  Antimicrobial Antioxidant Daucane Sesquiterpenes from Ferula hermonis Boiss , 2012, Phytotherapy research : PTR.

[7]  G. Basso,et al.  Natural daucane sesquiterpenes with antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity against human tumor cells. , 2011, Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry.

[8]  I. Merfort Perspectives on sesquiterpene lactones in inflammation and cancer. , 2011, Current drug targets.

[9]  M. Couladis,et al.  Essential Oil from the Underground Parts of Laserpitium zernyi: Potential Source of α-Bisabolol and its Antimicrobial Activity , 2010, Natural product communications.

[10]  J. Lopez-Ribot,et al.  A simple and reproducible 96-well plate-based method for the formation of fungal biofilms and its application to antifungal susceptibility testing , 2008, Nature Protocols.

[11]  B. Wickes,et al.  Inhibition of Candida albicans Biofilm Formation by Farnesol, a Quorum-Sensing Molecule , 2002, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[12]  E. Abourashed,et al.  Daucane sesquiterpenes from Ferula hermonis. , 2001, Journal of natural products.

[13]  S. Milosavljevic,et al.  Sesquiterpene lactones from the Yugoslavian wild growing plant families asteraceae and apiaceae , 1999 .

[14]  I. Muhammad,et al.  Antibacterial constituents from the rhizomes of Ferula communis , 1998 .

[15]  S. Dagher,et al.  Antifungal Activity of the Essential Oil of Origanum syriacum L. , 1995, Journal of food protection.

[16]  E. Ghisalberti The daucane (carotane) class of sesquiterpenes , 1994 .

[17]  M. Holub,et al.  Sesquiterpene lactones of the umbelliferae , 1987 .

[18]  D. Deforce,et al.  Cytotoxic Activity of Laserpitium latifolium L. Extract and Its Daucane and Phenylpropanoid Constituents , 2013 .