Terpenes inhibitory effects

Hada T, Shiraishi A, Furuse S, Inoue Y, Hamashima H, Matsumoto Y, Masuda K, Shimada J (2003) Inhibitory effects of terpenes on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. Nat Med 57 64-67... 

Essential oils are known to have detrimental effects on plants. The inhibitory components have not been identified, but both alde-hydic (benzol-, citrol-, cinnamal-aldehyde) and phenolic (thymol, carvacol, apiol, safrol) constituents are suspected. Muller et al. (104) demonstrated that volatile toxic materials localized in the leaves of Salvia leucophylla, Salvia apiana, and Arthemisia californica inhibited the root growth of cucumber and oat seedlings. They speculated that in the field, toxic substances from the leaves of these plants might be deposited in dew droplets on adjacent annual plants. In a subsequent paper, Muller and Muller (105) reported that the leaves of S. leucophylla contained several volatile terpenes, and growth inhibition was attributed to camphor and cineole. 

C. grevei Bill, and Courchet. (Rutaceae) EO exhibited cytotoxic effects against MCF-7 cell line (human breast cancer cells) with IC50 (inhibitory concentration 50%) values of 21.5 + 2 mg/L. The cytotoxic activity of the EO may be attributed to synergistic effects of all terpenes (Afoulous et ah, 2013). Aydin et al. (2013b) tested the cytotoxic effect of terpinolene, the main compound of many aromatic plants. It showed cytotoxic effects at concentrations of 100, 200, and 400 mg/L in primary rat neurons. In N2a (neuroblastoma) cells terpinolene showed cytotoxic effects already at a concentration of 50 mg/L. The antiproliferative effects of carvone were also tested. High doses of carvone (100, 200, and 400 mg/L) showed high cytotoxic effects on N2a cell lines (Aydin et al.. 

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