Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of the Volatile Composition of the Flower and Fruit of Solanum sisymbriifolium (Litchi Tomato)

Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. is used as traditional remedy in South America, recently this plant considered as new edible source. Berries and flower of S. sisymbriifolium have a characteristic fragrance. The pleasant fragrance of the S. sisymbriifolium could be considered as a source of food additive or preservative.
The essential oils of the flower and fruit of S. sisymbriifolium Lam. (litchi tomato) were isolated by hydrodistillation method and tested for antibacterial and antioxidant potentials also these volatile oils analyzed by the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID).The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of fruits and flowers were tested against Staphylococcus aureus using the well diffusion method and their free-radical-scavenging activity were assessed by the 2, 2-diphenyl-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) assay.
The essential oil of flower was characterized by a high content of aldehydes and aliphatic hydrocarbons (66.8%) and the essential oil of the fruit has high amount of fatty acids and their derivatives (80.1%). Heptadecane (37.9 %) and 9,12,15-octadecatrienal (22.7%) were the main compounds in flower whereas the fruits essential oil contained hexadecanoic acid (77.4%) and ambrettolide (7.4%). The essential oils showed antibacterial activity against S. aureus in 60 and 80 µg/mL for fruit and flower, respectively. In antioxidant activity assay fruit essential oil (with100 µg/mL) showed better activity in compression to flower essential oil with 83.33% activity.
This study showed that litchi tomato can be considered as a new source of edible compounds. Flower showed suitable antioxidant and antibacterial activity. This study also can be present an overview about chemical marker compounds of Solanum genus.