Full Length Research Paper

Antibacterial activity and composition of the essential oils of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. and Myrtus communis L. growing in Northern Cyprus

M. Akin¹*, A. Aktumsek¹ and A. Nostro²

¹Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Selcuk University, Campus, Konya, Turkey.

²Pharmaco-Biological Department, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: makin@selcuk.edu.tr. Tel: +90-332-223 1868.

Accepted 14 December, 2009

   Abstract

Water-distilled essential oils from leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. and Myrtus communis L., collected from Northern Cyprus, were analysed by GC-MS. The major constituents of the essential oil from E. camaldulensis Dehn. were ethanone (25.36%), eucalyptol (13.73%), β-caryophyllene (11.55%) and carvacrol (9.05%). Eucalyptol (50.13%) was identified as the main constituent of the essential oil of Myrtus communis L. The other important components were linalool (12.65%), α-terpineol (7.57%) and limonene (4.26%). M. communis showed some activity on Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria while E. camaldulensis was found to have a low activity. The higher efficacy of M. communis was confirmed by the agar dilution method.

Key words: Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn., Myrtus communis L., Myrtaceae, essential oil composition, gas chromatography, antibacterial activity.