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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #370067
Research Project: Integrated Pest Management of Mosquitoes and Biting Flies

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Composition & biological activity of Cyperus rotundus L. tuber volatiles from Saudi Arabia

Author
item AL-MASSARANI, SHAZA - King Saud University
item AL-ENZI, FEDHA - King Saud University
item AL-TAMIMI, MARAM - King Saud University
item AL-JOUMAIAH, NOURAH - King Saud University
item BASER, K. HUSNU CAN - Near East University
item Tabanca, Nurhayat
item ESTEP, ALDEN - Navy Entomology Center Of Excellence, Cmave Detachment
item BECNEL, JAMES - Retired ARS Employee
item BLOOMQUIST, JEFFREY - University Of Florida
item DEMIRCI, BETUL - Anadolu Universtiy

Submitted to: Natural Volatiles & Essential Oils
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/30/2016
Publication Date: 8/1/2016
Citation: Al-Massarani, S., Al-Enzi, F., Al-Tamimi, M., Al-Joumaiah, N., Baser, K., Tabanca, N., Estep, A.S., Becnel, J.J., Bloomquist, J.R., Demirci, B. 2016. Composition & biological activity of Cyperus rotundus L. tuber volatiles from Saudi Arabia. Natural Volatiles & Essential Oils. 3(2):26-34.

Interpretive Summary: Plant extracts and oils have been the major source of natural products with biological importance that can be used as alternative remedies for the treatment of infectious diseases or the control of insects that carry disease. Concerns about the toxicity of many synthetic insecticides and the development of resistance in insects are great impetus for the development of new insecticides and repellents from isolated natural products. We conducted this study with the aim of finding naturally derived, safe, and easily obtainable natural products that could be used for mosquito control derived from plants used in traditional Saudi Arabian medicine. We identified several compounds with limited insecticidal activity against mosquitoes.

Technical Abstract: The present study was conducted to investigate the composition of the oil of Cyperus rotundus L. rhizomes collected in Saudi Arabia, and to evaluate in vitro cytotoxic, antimicrobial and mosquito mortality activities of both the oil and the alcoholic extract of the aforementioned plant. Nineteen compounds were identified by GC-FID and GC-MS, of which a-cyperone (21.1%) and 4-oxo-a-ylangene (12.8%) were the major components. The essential oil recovered with diethyl ether demonstrated potent cytotoxic activities against colon (HCT-116), hepatocellular (Hep G-2) and breast (MCF-7) human cancer cell lines with IC50s of 1.06, 1.17 and 2.22 µg/mL, respectively. This oil also showed a comparable zone of inhibition against the gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis and the gram negative bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella flexneri and Salmonella enteritidis when compared to the standard drugs ampicillin and gentamycin. The ethanolic extract showed moderate activity against human cancer cells and pathogens. The essential oil was significantly more toxic to 1st instar Aedes aegypti larvae than the ethanol extract; however, the ethanol extract was more toxic to adult Ae. aegypti than the essential oil. Based on the results obtained, C. rotundus collected from Riyadh city could provide a potential and cheap source of biologically active compounds.