DNA Fingerprinting, Chemical Composition, Antitumor and Antimicrobial Activities of the Essential Oils and Extractives of four Annona Species from Egypt

The leaf essential oils of four members of the Annonaceae grown in Egypt (namely; Annona cherimola, A. squamosa, A. muricata and A. glabra) have been obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS in order to compare and contrast the volatile chemical compositions of these species. The essential oils were screened for in-vitro cytotoxic activity against breast cancer (MCF-7), colon cancer (CACO) and liver cancer (HEPG2) cell lines and antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeuroginosa, Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans. beta-elemene (25.02%), beta-caryophyllene (37.11%), bicycloelemene (23.58%) and and beta-gurjunene (42.49%), were the major constituents of Annona cherimola, A. squamosa, A. muricata and A. glabra, respectively. Ethanol extracts showed highly significant cytotoxic activities (low IC50) much more than results displayed by essential oils on breast (MCF-7), colon (CACO) and liver (HEPG2) carcinoma cell lines. Relative to breast carcinoma cell line (MCF-7), The IC50 values of ethanol extracts were 3.43, 3.89 and 4.34 ?g/ml for A. cherimola, A. squamosa and A. muricata ethanol extractives respectively. While colon carcinoma cell line (CACO) displayed IC50 values 2.82, 2.97, 3.58 and 3.89 ?g/ml for A. muricata, A. cherimola, A. glabra and A. squamosa, respectively. Liver carcinoma cell line (HEPG2) exhibited IC50 valus of 3.12, 3.43 and 3.73 for A. squamosa, A. muricata and A. cherimola, respectively. Three of the four leaf essential oils showed notable invitro cytotoxic activity. Essential oils of A. glabra, A. muricata and A. squamosa showed moderate cytotoxic activities with IC50 values ranging from 12.35 to 24.21?g/ml. While the essential oils of A. cherimola showed IC50 values ranging from 7.67 to 9.22?g/ml. Leaf oils and ethanol extractives showed appreciable antibmicobial activity with variable MIC ranging from 30 to 315µg/ml. These findings suggest that A. cherimola essential oil and ethanol extract have great potential as a natural medicine for cancers and microbial infections. Keywords:Annona cherimola; A. squamosa;, A. muricata ; A. glabra; Annonaceae; DNA, essential oil composition; cytotoxicity; antimicobia