In vitro antibacterial and cytotoxicity activities of Tagetes minuta L. essential oil towards bovine mastitis treatment

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial activity of Tagetes minuta L. essential oil against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and its cytotoxicity to bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T line), aiming at its use for bovine mastitis treatment. The qualitative analysis of the oil by GC-MS identified cis-tagetone (24.24%), dihydrotagetone (16.65%), 1,3,6-Octatriene 3, 7-Dimethyl-E (13.61%); frans-ocimenone (13.52%) and cis-ocimenone (10.06%) as major compounds. Antimicrobial activity was determined by broth microdilution technique and revealed the minimum inhibitory concentration of lmg/mL for the standard strain of S. aureus (ATCC 25923) and five bacterias isolated from mastitic milk, including a multiresistant strain (ATCC 33592); and 3mg/ml for the standard strain of E. coli (ATCC 8739) and two bacterias isolated from mastitic milk. However, a strong citotoxic effect on MAC-T cells was found. Oil concentrations from 10 mu g/mL resulted in over 90% of cell death. The results suggest that although the antimicrobial activity was identified against the main agents of bovine mastitis, the intramammary use of T. minuta oil may not be recommended. On the other hand, it is important to highlight the sensibility of the MSRA strain to the essential oil, which evidences its potential as an antiseptic or sanitizer.