Phytochemical Characterization, In-Vitro Cytotoxic and Antibacterial Activity of Cotula cinerea (Delile) Vis Essential Oil

Cotula cinerea is a traditional Algerian medicinal plant that has many biological properties, such as analgesic, antiseptic and antibacterial activities. Essential oil of Cotula cinerea was subjected to chromatographical and spectroscopical studies to determine the chemical composition. The analysis highlighted that the oil contains trans thujone (51.86%), santalina triéne (10.6%), α-pinéne (2.02%), sabinene (6.17%), cineole <1.8> (5.34%), δ-terpinene (1.57%), camphor (2.63%), β-terpineol (1.39 %) and terpin-4-ol (1.73%) as the major constituents. The essential oil was tested for antibacterial activity. The oil exhibited substantial antibacterial activity against both the tested Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. In search of better anticancer agent the essential oil of Cotula cinerea was also subjected for in-vitro cytotoxic activity on two cancerous human cell lines; colon (HCT116) and hepatic (HePG2) cancer cell lines. The results indicates that the essential oil of Cotula cinerea has a significant cytotoxic activity on the tested colon cancer cell lines with a 66.9% inhibition and a minimal inhibition (33.9%) on liver cancer cell line.