Piper diospyrifolium Kunth.: Chemical analysis and antimicrobial (intrinsic and combined) activities

The secular use of plants in popular medicine has emerged as a source for the discovery of new compounds capable of curing infections. Among microbial resistance to commercial drugs, species such as Piper diospyrifolium Kunth, which are used in popular therapy, are targets for pharmacological studies. With this in mind, antimicrobial experiments with the essential oil from the P. diospyrifolium (PDEO) species were performed and its constituents were elucidated. The oil compounds were identified by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The broth microdilution method with colorimetric readings for bacterial tests (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and spectrophotometric readings for fungal tests (Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis), whose data were used to create a cell viability curve and calculate its IC50 against fungal cells, were used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of the oil and its combined action with commercial drugs. The oil's minimal fungicidal concentration and its action over fungal morphological transition were analyzed by subculture and microculture, respectively. Chemical analysis revealed Z-Carpacin, Pogostol and E-Caryophyllene as the most abundant compounds. Results from the intrinsic analysis were considered clinically irrelevant, however the oil presented a synergistic effect against multiresistant E. coli and S. aureus strains when associated with gentamicin, and against the standard and isolated C. tropicalis strains with fluconazole. A fungicidal effect was observed against the C. albicans isolate. Candida spp. hyphae inhibition was verified for all strains at the highest tested concentrations. The P. diospyrifolium essential oil presented a promising effect when associated with commercial drugs and against a fungal virulence factor. Thus, the oil presented active compounds which may help the development of new drugs, however, new studies are needed in order to clarify the oil's mechanism of action, as well as to identify its active constituents.