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Chrysocoma ciliata
L. is one of the South African medicinal plants used for the management
of pains, stomach and menstrual disorders by the people of the Eastern
Cape. The essential oil extracted from the leaves of the plant through
hydrodistillation yielded 1.20% (volume/fresh weight). A total of 37
compounds were identified, constituting 85.28% of the total oil
composition. The major components of the oil were the monoterpenes
(α-pinene, 7.87%; β-pinene, 42.94%; myrcene, 6.13%, cis-ocimene, 7.23%;
allo-ocimene, 1.18%) and sesquiterpenes (trans-beta farnesene, 1.49%;
germacrene D, 1.82%; bicyclogermacrene, 2.52%; viridiflorol, 7.70%). The
oil inhibited both bacteria and fungi species at relatively low
concentrations. The 10 bacteria (five gram-positive and five
gram-negative) used were inhibited at minimum inhibitory concentration
(MIC) range of 0.08 - 10.00 mg/ml. Also, the oil suppressed the growth
of four fungi species with inhibition zone ranging from 14.50 - 51.24
mm. The presence of monoterpenes as the major constituents of the
essential oil from this herb could be responsible for the notable
antimicrobial activity observed in this study. Therefore, the essential
oil from C. ciliata could be promising natural product for the
development of antimicrobial agents.
Key words:
Chrysocoma ciliata, hydrodistillation, essential oil,
antimicrobial activity. |
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