Local Anaesthetic, Antibacterial and Antifungal Properties of Sesquiterpenes from Myrrh

Abstract

We extracted, purified and characterised 8 sesquiterpene fractions from Commyphora molmol. In particular, we focused our attention on a mixture of furanodiene-6-one and methoxyfuranoguaia-9-ene-8-one, which showed antibacterial and antifungal activity against standard pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.18 to 2.8 μg/ml. These compounds also had local anaesthetic activity, blocking the inward sodium current of excitable mammalian membranes.

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