Essential oil composition and biological/pharmacological properties of Salmea scandens (L.) DC

- Proximate analysis of the stem bark revealed acceptable amounts of fiber and protein.
- Chemical compositions of the essential oils were identified by GC and GC-MS.
- Essential oil and alkylamides from the stem bark inhibited porcine pancreatic lipase.
- The essential oils showed antimicrobial activity against assayed phytophatogen strains.
- The stem bark essential oil showed larvicidal activity against two mosquito vectors.

Salmea scandens (L.) DC is an indigenous edible plant whose stem bark is traditionally used as food by people of Oaxaca, México. Proximate analysis of the edible stem bark revealed abundant amounts of fiber (43.67%) and protein (9.27%). GC and GC-MS analyses demonstrated that the essential oil from leaves contained high levels of germacrene D (47.1%) and elemol (15.3%), whereas that of the stem bark contained the alkylamides N-Isobutyl-(2E,4E,8Z,10E/Z)-dodecatetraenamide isomers (39.7%). Levels of these compounds in the essential oil from both organs were in similar concentrations in all seasons except winter. The HPLC purified N-Isobutyl-(2E,4E,8Z,10E/Z)-dodecatetraenamide isomers produced a non-competitive inhibition on porcine pancreatic lipase. The enzymatic assays with these compounds revealed a modification on Vmax (0.0431-0.0533 mM min−1) whereas the Km value (0.880-0.881 mM) was not significantly changed. Essential oil from the stem bark showed a high anti-microbial activity against some phytopathogenic microorganisms. The MIC's in μg mL−1 for Pseudomonas syringae pathovars were tabaci 56.1, tomato 91.2 and phaseolitica 196.4, for Clavibacter michiganensis 35.8 and Erwinia carotovora 48.1. The fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Phytophthora infestans had MIC's in μg mL−1 of 3.3 and 2.4 respectively. Same essential oil was highly effective against larvae from Aedes aegypti (LC50 = 0.3 μg mL−1) and Anopheles albimanis (LC50 = 2.5 μg mL−1).