Research On The Volatile Compounds,Antidepressant And Bacteriostatic Actions Of Rosemary And Lemongrass

Rosemary(Rosmarinus officinalis L.), a kind of perennial evergreen subshrub, belongs to Rosmarinus, Labiatae. Lemongrass(Cymbopogon citrates), a kind of perennial herb, belongs to Rosmarinus, Labiatae. Rosemary and lemongrass, as two important aromatic plants, have been cultivated on a large scale in the southwest of China. They were also successfully introduced in Shanghai at the end of last century, and now there are planting bases in Chongming, etc. So, it is significant to develop and utilize them effectively in various ways. In order to promote the using value of rosemary and lemongrass, we conducted studies on three aspects as follow:(1) We distilled the essential oil (EO) and the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from rosemary and lemongrass, and analyzed their components, which regarded as the foundation of studing their function. The hydrodistillation was used to distill the EO that was then analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The VOCs was collected by the dynamic headspace collection equipment and analyzed by the TCT-GC/MS; (2) We assessed the antidepressant actions of the EO and the VOCs from rosemary and lemongrass by using the mouse forced swimming test(FST)and mouse tail suspension test(TST)models of depression, and have analyzed the active components. We adopted two treatment, intragastric administration with EO or smelling the VOCs, to the mice of different groups. This research aimed to provide the theoretical foundation for developing natural antidepressant and for the application of rosemary and lemongrass in the health care garden; (3) We studied on the bacteriostatic actions of the Lemongrass EO (LO), Rosemary EO (RO) , LO and RO mixed at the ratio of 1:1 (LRO1:1), LRO1:2, LRO2:1 by the Disc Agar Diffusion Method (DDM) and the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) test. We chose Staphylococcus epidermidi and Staphyloccocus aureus as the tested bacteria, which are the pathogens of dermatosis. This test could provide the theoretical foundation for the choice of effective prescription to develop the natural sterilization products for skin aegis.The experiment shows that: (1) There were 41 compounds in the RO. The main compositions areα-pinene, 1,8-cineole and geraniol, which account for 49.38% altogether; There were 18 compounds in the LO. The main compounds are geranial and nera, which account for 77.49% altogether; There were 55 compounds in the VOCs from rosemary (RV).The main compositions are camphor, p-cymene, borneol, limonene andα-pinene, which account for 52.54% altogether; There were 25 compounds in the VOCs from lemongrass (LV). The main compounds are geranial and neral, which account for 53.04% altogether; (2) Compared with the control group, all of the EO groups and the VOCs groups have significantly shortened the motionless time in the TST and FST. But the pharmacology functions are generally weaker than the fluoxetine. The RO at medium dosage showed the strongest antidepressant action. The LO showed dose-dependence to some extent, but the RO did not; The RV acted better than the LV; The active components may be geraniol, linalool, 1,8-cineole, camphor,α-pinene and limonene; (3) The LO, the RO, the LRO1:1, the LRO1:2, the LRO2:1 all showed strong bacteriostatic actions, and with the increase of the consumption of EO, the bacteriostatic action was strengthened gradually. The bacteriostatic action from strong to weak are successively: the LRO2:1, the LO, the LRO1:2, the LRO1:1, the RO; Moreover, the tested EO showed more stonger bacteriostatic actions to Staphyloccocus aureus than to Staphylococcus epidermidis; The active components may be geranial, neral, geraniol,α-pinene,β-myrcene and 1,8-cineole.