Antimicrobial, antioxidant, hematologic and cytotoxic properties of Lavandula angustifolia essential oil

Objective: Profound consumption of medicinal plants products worldwide and public misconception of the products safety puts the urgent need forward as to evaluation of their safe and harmful aspects. In the present study the Lavandula angustifolia essential oil was studied with a view to the foregoing criteria.
Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial, antioxidative, hematologic and cytotoxic properties of Lavandula angustifolia essential oil were studied.
Results: The bacterial strains sensitive to Lavandula angustifolia oil were in the following order: S.aureus> E.coli> K. pneumonia> Streptococcus faecalis> P. aeruginosa. Antioxidative property of the oil was carried out using beta carotene bleaching test and the results were compared with the standard synthetic antioxidants. Lipid peroxidation inhibitions were lower than the synthetic antioxidant BHT and BHA. The oil concentration required for 50% (IC50) free radical scavenging of DPPH was 56 μg/ml with total phenol contents of 85.43 μg GAE/mg for L. angustifolia oil. Ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) in the blood sera of the rats gavaged with a daily dose of 100 µl oil increased by 167.57%. Adverse therapeutic effects were noted as a result of feeding the rats with the essential oil. The volatile oil displayed cytotoxic effects on the human tumor cell line (HeLa cells) and peripheral blood cells with the IC50 of 26 and 21μg/ml respectively. The mutagenic and antimutagenic properties of various concentrations of Lavandula angustifolia oil on TA98 and TA100 strains Salmonella typhimurium in the presence and absence of S9 fraction were determined.
Conclusion: The results show that the Lavandula oil used in the present study may not be consumed without dose determination.