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.