Cytotoxic Activity of Essential Oils of Mentha Spp. on Human Carcinoma Cells

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of essential oils of Mentha arvensis and Mentha spicata in human carcinoma cells. The essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation. The chemical compositions of the essential oils were determined using GC-MS analysis. The extracted essential oils were dissolved in DMSO and diluted with growth medium at the essential oil concentrations of 1, 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000 µg/mL, and evaluated for cytotoxic activity in KB and HeLa human carcinoma cells using MTT assay. The major components of the Mentha arvensis and Mentha spicata essential oils were menthol, menthone and limonene, and limonene and carvone, respectively. All essential oils showed the cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ value of 142.0 ± 92.2 and 243.3 ± 151.1 mg/mL against KB cells and with IC₅₀ value of 178.4 ± 92.1 and 779.4 ± 673.3 mg/mL against HeLa cells with Mentha arvensis and Mentha spicata, respectively. This study suggests that the essential oils of these Mentha spp. have potential to be promising candidates for therapeutic and preventive application against cancers.