Pharmacognosic investigation on marrubium parviflorum subsp. oligodon

Marrubium parviflorum Fisch. & C.A.Mey. subsp. oligodon (Boiss.) Seybold (Lamiaceae), an endemic aromatic plant to Turkey, is locally known as "Dağ çayı" in the East Anatolia and traditionally used against colds for antipyretic effect by infusion. In this study, the essential oil of the aerial parts of the plant, obtained by hydrodistillation, was analyzed by GC and GC/MS systems. Sixty-six components were identified, representing 94,8% of the total essential oil. The major constituents of essential oil were determined as bicyclogermacrene (21,3%), followed by germacrene D (7,2 %), β-caryophyllene (6,6%) and caryophyllene oxide (5,2%). In addition, antimicrobial, antibiofilm and cytotoxic activity of the essential oil of the plant was investigated for the first time. According to the our results, antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was determined against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus 20,9 mm and 15,8 mm of zone diameter, as well as 3,9 mg/mL and 7,8 mg/mL of MIC concentration, respectively. Besides, antibiofilm effect of the essential oil showed high inhibition against E. coli and S. aureus with 89,0% and 84,4%, respectively. Moreover, the cytotoxic activity of essential oil was investigated by MTT assay against A549 (human lung cancer), and BEAS2B (human normal lung) cell lines at a concentration range of 1-1000 µg/mL. The cell viability of the essential oil on the cell lines A549, and BEAS2B was detected as 41,3% and 5,3%, respectively at a concentration of 1000 µg/mL. As a conclusion, M. parviflorum subsp. oligodon essential oil can be prominent source to discover potential antimicrobial, antibiofilm, and cytotoxic agents.