Essential Oil Composition and Antiproliferative Potential of the Aerial Parts of Majorana syriaca (L. Rafi): An Aromatic Essential Oil Bearing Ethnomedicinal Herb from Jordan

This study aimed to analyze the chemical composition of essential oils of dried aerial parts of five different specimens of Majorana syriaca (L. Rafi) grown in Jordan obtained by hydrodistillation using GC-FID and GC/MS. Also, in vitro antiproliferative activity of plant extracts against MCF-7, Caco-2 and Panc-1 cancer cell lines in addition to normal fibrocytes cells was assessed using MTT assay. Thirty three components were identified in the oil hydrodistilled from the tested specimens of M. syriaca amounting for an average of 94.0 % of oil content. Oxygenated monoterpenes predominated the volatile fractions with carvacrol (0.6-88.2 %) and/or thymol (0.9-70.3 %) as the principal constituents, p-cymene (2.1-14.5 %) and γ-terpinene (2.6-15.4 %) as major constituents. M. syriaca essential oils exhibited excellent in vitro antiproliferative activity against all tested cells. While water extracts were ineffective; M. syriaca ethanol extract showed significant activity only against MCF-7 (IC₅₀ value= 6.96 μg/mL). Moreover, all extracts were safe on normal human fibrocytes. Based on the obtained results, ethanol extract and EO of M. syriaca may be advocated as candidates for breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancers management.