Kundmannia sicula (L.) DC: a rich source of germacrene D

Kundmannia sicula is an herbaceous plant belonging to the family Apiaceae and distributed in the Mediterranean coastal areas where occurs in arid places. In this work we have analysed the essential oil distilled from the aerial parts of K. sicula from Sicily (Italy) by GC-MS and evaluated its antioxidant capacity and cytotoxicity on three human tumor cells (A375, MDA MB-231 and HCT 116) by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and MTT methods, respectively. The essential oil resulted very rich of the sesquiterpene hydrocarbon germacrene D (81.2%). Moreover, the K. sicula oil displayed relevant scavenging activity towards the ABTS radical (IC50 values of 14.5 µg/ml) and noteworthy antiproliferative effects on tumor cell lines (IC50 values in the range 21.59-31.94 µg/ml). Results of this study may support uses of K. sicula as a natural source of germacrene D to be exploited on an industrial level.