Chemical and Bioactive Characterization of the Essential Oils Obtained from Three Mediterranean Plants

<i>Cupressus sempervirens</i> L., <i>Juniperus communis</i> L. and <i>Cistus ladanifer</i> L. are Mediterranean arboreal and shrub species that possess essential oils (EO) in their leaves and branches. This study aimed at characterizing the EOs obtained by steam distillation from the three species collected in different locations from Spain (Almazán, Andévalo, Barriomartín, Cerezal, Ermitas and Huéscar). For this purpose, volatiles composition was determined by GC-MS, and different bioactivities were evaluated. The highest content in terpenes was observed in <i>C. sempervirens</i> (Huéscar origin) followed by <i>J. communis</i> (Almazán origin), corresponding to 92% and 91.9% of total compounds, respectively. With exception of <i>C. ladanifer</i> from Cerezal that presented viridiflorol as the most abundant compound, all the three species presented in common the α-pinene as the major compound. The EOs from <i>C. ladanifer</i> showed high antibacterial potential, presenting MIC values from 0.3 to 1.25 mg/mL. Concerning other bioactivities, <i>C. ladanifer</i> EO revealed an oxidation inhibition of 83%, while <i>J. communis</i> showed cytotoxicity in the MCF-7 cell line, and <i>C. sempervirens</i> and <i>C. ladanifer</i> EOs exhibited the highest potential on NCI-H460 cell lines. Nevertheless, some EOs revealed toxicity against non-tumoral cells but generally presented a GI₅₀ value higher than that of the tumor cell lines.