Chemical compositions and antibacterial activities of essentials oil from the family Rutaceae

Abstract

The fresh leaves of Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr., Toddalia asiatica (Linn.) Lan. and Zanthoxylum budrunga Wall. ex Hook.f. (Rutaceae) were hydrodistilled using a Clevenger apparatus. The resulting essential oils were analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and antimicrobial activity evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The main constituents of A. marmelos were sylvestrene (82.49%), sabinene (8.93%) and germacrene D (3.54%), whilst those of T. asiatica were tricyclene (12.75%), 9-epi-(E)-caryophyllene (10.95%) and (E)-nerolidol (8.88%). The main constituents of Z. budrunga were limonene (31.09%), terpinen-4-ol (13.94%) and sabinene (9.13%). The essential oils exhibited antibacterial activity against S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and Ps. aeruginosa with Z. budrunga showing the strongest activity against S. aureus and A. marmelos showed the strongest activity against B. subtilis. The essential oils of T. asiatica and Z. budrunga showed the strongest activity against both E. coli and Ps. aeruginosa (concentration 1.5% v/v). As these plants are already accepted as folk medicines in Thailand and given the essential oil yield from each plant (i.e. 1.8, 0.5 and 4.3%, respectively), these plants may be suitable for large scale commercial growth and development of a local medicinal essential oil industry. © Essential Oil Resource Consultants.