Find in Library

Motivated by the ethnopharmacological use of <i>Pulicaria dysenterica</i>, in the present study, the antimicrobial potential of the extracted essential oil was investigated against a panel of eighteen microorganism strains. Additionally, anti-acetylcholinesterase and antispasmodic (isolated rat distal colon) activities, general acute toxicity (<i>Artemia salina</i> model), and immunomodulatory properties (cytotoxicity on isolated mouse macrophages) were studied. Detailed analyses of the essential oil led to the identification of 3-methoxycuminyl 2-methylbutanoate (a new natural product) and 3-methoxycuminyl 3-methylbutanoate (a rare natural product). The obtained esters and intermediates in the synthesis of the starting alcohol (3-methoxycuminol) were subjected to a battery of 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments. The synthesized esters were additionally characterized by GC–MS, IR, and UV–Vis. The synthesized compounds (ten in total) were biologically tested in the same way as the extracted <i>P. dysenterica</i> essential oil. The obtained low acute toxicity and promising antimicrobial potential suggest that the <i>P. dysenterica</i> essential oil might partially explain the ethnopharmacological application of <i>P. dysenterica</i> plant material for the treatment of gastrointestinal infections.