Background
Plant Tropaeolum majus L. (garden nasturtium) belongs to the family Tropaeolaceae and contains benzyl glucosinolate. The breakdown product of benzyl glucosinolate, benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), exhibits various biological activities such as antiproliferative, antibacterial and antiinflammatory. In order to optimize the content of biologically active volatile compounds in plant extract and essential oil, the use of appropriate extraction technique has a crucial role. Experimental approach: The current study investigates the effect of two modern extraction
Conclusions
Essential oil and extract of garden nasturtium (T. majus) seeds were isolated by two extraction techniques: MAD and MHG. BITC and benzyl cyanide (BCN) present in the extract were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Essential oil of T. majus showed higher antiproliferative activity (IC50<5 µg/mL) than T. majus extract (IC50<27 µg/mL) against three cancer cell lines: HeLa, HCT116 and U2OS. BITC showed much higher inhibitory effect on all tested cells than BCN. The essential oil and extract of T. majus showed strong antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. Novelty and scientific contribution: This work represents the first comparative report on the antiproliferative activity of the essential oil and extract of T. majus seeds, BITC and BCN against HeLa, HCT116 and U2OS cells as well as their antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. This study demonstrates that the essential oil of T. majus seeds exhibits stronger antiproliferative and antimicrobial activity than the plant extract.