Chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Phthirusa adunca from Venezuelan Andes

• Published in: Natural product communications Vol. 6; no. 7; p. 1051
• Main Authors: Mora, Flor D, Ríos, Nurby, Rojas, Luis B, Díaz, Tulia, Velasco, Judith, Carmona, Juan A, Silva, Bladimiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-07-2011
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Bacteria - drug effects; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Loranthaceae - chemistry; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Monoterpenes - chemistry; Monoterpenes - isolation & purification; Monoterpenes - pharmacology; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Plant Components, Aerial - chemistry; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Oils - pharmacology; Venezuela; Venezuela
• ISSN: 1934-578X
• DOI: 10.1177/1934578X1100600731

In this paper, preliminary studies on the chemical characterization of Phthirusa adunca Meyer essential oil, obtained by hydrodistillation, is presented. The separation of the components was performed by GC-MS. Twenty-three compounds (94.5% of the sample) were identified of which the three major ones (76% of the sample) were beta-phellandrene (38.1%), germacrene D (26.8%) and beta-pinene (11.5%). The essential oil showed a broad spectrum of activity against Salmonella Typhi CDC 57 (100 microg/mL), Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 (200 microg/mL), Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 (250 microg/mL), Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 y Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 23357 (500 microg/mL). This is the first report on the composition and activity of the essential oil of this species.