Essential oils from two Lantana species with antimycobacterial activity.

Lantana trifolia L. and L. fucata Lindl. are two Brazilian species used in folk medicine for the treatment of respiratory disorders. The composition of the essential oils from the leaves was investigated, as well as their in vitro activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. L. trifolia yielded an oil (0.2%) rich in sesquiterpenes. The major substances found were germacrene D (45.1%), (E)-caryophyllene (12.8%), bicyclogermacrene (12.7%) and alpha-humulene (4.4%). Sesquiterpenes were also the main components of the oil of L. fucata (0.3% yield), the principal ones being beta-elemene (27.1%), germacrene D (11.6%), (E)-caryophyllene (7.7%), valencene (5.7%) and germacrene A (4.6%). Both oils exhibited in vitro antimycobacterial activity by the MABA assay with MICs of 80 microg/mL for L. trifolia and 100 microg/mL for L. fucata.