Haira Tia H, Ooi Robyn J, Pay Ruth A, Paenga Bella, Caddie Manu, Skinner Damian, Harcourt Nikki, Jackson Michael, Keyzers Robert A, Munkacsi Andrew B
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand; Centre for Biodiscovery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Hikurangi Bioactives Limited Partnership, Ruatōria, New Zealand.
Fitoterapia. 2025 Jul;184:106592. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2025.106592. Epub 2025 May 5.
Traditional medicine has been the source of many modern drugs. To explore the pharmaceutical potential of extracts from a taonga (treasured Indigenous plant) species, we obtained an unbiased GC-MS profile of 84 compounds from 99 samples of kānuka oil collected from five land blocks across two seasons. Multivariate analysis correlated the compound profiles with antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-acne activities as determined via growth inhibition of Candida albicans, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Propionibacterium acnes, respectively. The kānuka oil samples had the greatest activity against P. acnes. Samples collected during spring were more associated with antifungal activity, while samples collected during autumn were more associated with anti-MRSA and anti-acne activities. While α-pinene was the most abundant compound, partial least squares regression analysis identified other lead compounds for antifungal activity (α-muurolene, isoamyl isovalerate, and 4-carene) as well as a common set of lead compounds for anti-MRSA and anti-acne activity that included limonene and nerolidol. An unidentified compound was particularly interesting as it was the only compound to positively correlate to all three bioactivities. The results from this study provide molecular insight into specific compounds in kānuka oil that can be further explored for pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical potential.
传统医学一直是许多现代药物的来源。为了探索一种珍贵的本土植物提取物的药用潜力，我们对从两个季节中五个地块采集的99份卡努卡油样本中的84种化合物进行了无偏倚的气相色谱 - 质谱分析。多变量分析将化合物谱与抗真菌、抗菌和抗痤疮活性相关联，这些活性分别通过白色念珠菌、耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）和痤疮丙酸杆菌的生长抑制来确定。卡努卡油样本对痤疮丙酸杆菌的活性最强。春季采集的样本与抗真菌活性更相关，而秋季采集的样本与抗MRSA和抗痤疮活性更相关。虽然α-蒎烯是含量最丰富的化合物，但偏最小二乘回归分析确定了其他抗真菌活性的先导化合物（α-依兰油烯、异戊酸异戊酯和4-蒈烯）以及一组抗MRSA和抗痤疮活性的共同先导化合物，包括柠檬烯和橙花叔醇。一种未鉴定的化合物特别有趣，因为它是唯一与所有三种生物活性呈正相关的化合物。这项研究的结果为卡努卡油中的特定化合物提供了分子层面的见解，这些化合物可进一步探索其药用和化妆品潜力。
