Evaluation of the biological activity and chemical profile of supercritical and subcritical extracts of Bursera graveolens from northern Peru

Abstract

Bursera graveolens is a tree species located in regions between Mexico and Peru. It has been used in folk medicine, but no studies have reported on obtaining extracts of B. graveolens at high pressure. Therefore, this study compared low and high pressure extraction methods, using supercritical extraction with CO2 and subcritical extraction using CO2-EtOH, to evaluate the biological properties and chemical profile of extracts. Global yield, cytotoxic activity, antimicrobial activity and chemical profile using GC/MS were evaluated. The best global yields were obtained under subcritical conditions with %EtOH greater than 20%. Extracts from supercritical conditions showed cytotoxicity to L929 cells from 50 µg mL−1 and antimicrobial effect against dermatophyte fungi from 500 µg mL−1. Chemical profile analysis showed recovery of 17.50% of d-limonene, 28.30% of mint furanone, and 12.36% of α-terpineol in subcritical extracts. Since these compounds are an alternative to synthetic insecticides, they would have industrial value.