Antiprotozoal, schistosomicidal, and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil from the leaves of Baccharis dracunculifolia

Baccharis dracunculifolia DC. (Asteraceae), popularly known as 'alecrim do campo', is a native plant from Brazil used in folk medicine as febrifuge, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and to treat skin sores. Also, B. dracunculifolia is the most important plant source of the Brazilian green propolis, which is recognized for its antiseptic and antiprotozoal activities. This study aimed at investigating the in vitro antiprotozoal, schistosomicidal, and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil from the leaves of B. dracunculifolia. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC/MS, which allowed the identification of 14 compounds, mainly oxygenated sesquiterpenes, such as (E)-nerolidol (33.51%) and spathulenol (16.24%). The essential oil showed activity against promastigote forms of Leishmania donovani, with IC(50) values of 42 microg/ml. The essential oil displayed high activity in the schistosomicidal assay, since all pairs of Schistosoma mansoni adult worms were dead after incubation with the essential oil (10, 50, and 100 microg/ml). B. dracunculifolia essential oil was neither cytotoxic against Vero cells, nor active in the antimicrobial and antiplasmodial assays.