Phytochemical profile, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oil extracted from Ecuadorian species Piper ecuadorense sodiro

In the present research, the essential oil from Piper ecuadorense was analysed by GC/MS and GC/FID techniques. A total of forty-four chemical compounds were identified which represent 98.65% of the essential oil composition. The main compounds were bicyclogermacrene (12.98%), 3-thujopsanone (11.59%), α-phellandrene (6.89%), (E)-nerolidol (6.88%), δ-elemene (6.83%) and shyobunol (5.79%). The essential oil from P. ecuadorense exerted a strong activity against Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) with an MIC of 250 μg/mL, and a very strong activity against Trichophyton rubrum (ATCC 28188) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (ATCC 28185) with an MIC of 62.5 μg/mL in both cases. The antioxidant activity of essential oil was explored using DPPH and ABTS method, through ABTS assay. The oils showed an IC₅₀ of 1.81 ± 0.09 mg/mL. This is the first report on the chemical composition and biological activity of essential oil from this species.

Keywords: Piper ecuadorense; Staphylococcus aureus; Trichophyton mentagrophytes; Trichophyton rubrum; Essential oil; antioxidant activities; bicyclogermacrene.