Phytochemical compositions of volatile oil from Blumea balsamifera and their biological activities

Background: This research, extract compositions of volatile oil in Blumea balsamifera (Linn.) DC by steam distillation method. The gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer technology (GC-MS) was used to separate and determine chemical components of volatile oil. Meanwhile, the percentage of the chemical components was determined in the volatile oil by peak area normalization method. At the same time, we determine and evaluate antitumor, antibacterial, and antioxidation activities of chemical components of volatile oil in Blumea balsamifera of the aromatic plant. Materials and Methods: We screened the cytotoxicity of volatile oil in Blumea balsamifera by using prawn larva and by prawn-lethal bioactivity experiment. Use the slanting test tube method to evaluate the antibacterial activity of volatile oil in Blumea balsamifera for eight kinds of plant pathogenic fungi. Taking Trolox as the contrast, the research uses DPPH method to study the radical-scavenging function (IC ₅₀ ) of the volatile oil in Blumea balsamifera. Results: The results show that 42 kinds of compounds are separated from volatile oil of Blumea balsamifera. The appraised components take up 97.65% of total peak area. The volatile oil in Blumea balsamifera mainly contains sesquiterpenoids. The results also show that it has relatively strong activity of antitumor and anti-plant pathogenic fungi and some antioxidation activity. Conclusion: This research provided the reference data for further development of this natural resource, and at the same time, we understood more of the chemical components of volatile oil and bioactivity of this aromatic plant.