Schinus polygamus (Anacardiaceae) is a shrub cultivated in Egypt for ornamental purpose. The major components of bark oil were dl-limonene (29.74%), followed by myrtenal (14.02%) and caryophyllene oxide (11.34%), while E-caryophyllene (55.86%), dl-limonene (27.71%) and β-pinene (3.54%) were predominant in the leaf oil. These isolated oils were screened for their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 33591, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145, Candida albicans MTCC183 and Aspergillus niger NRRL 595, and two clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. The leaf oil showed a remarkable inhibitory effect against all tested bacterial strains with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range of 25 to 300 µg/mL, while the bark oil was active against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145 only. Furthermore, the bark and leaf oils revealed potent cytotoxic effects on HepG2 and Caco-2 cells with IC50 values of 1.56 to 24.12 µg/mL.
Keywords: Caco-2; Myrtenal; antimicrobial; cytotoxic; limonene.