Antimicrobial activity of essential oils from Eucalyptus deglupta

Rafael Sumar

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Plant essential oils are known to exert potent antibacterial and antifungal activities against broad spectrum microorganisms. This activity has previously been confirmed for various Eucalyptus spp. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of leave essential oil of Eucalyptus deglupta Blume collected in the Independent State of Samoa, was evaluated using the broth microdilution method in vitro. The essential oil composition was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The antibacterial activity of the essential oil tested against potentially pathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enteritidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The chemical analysis revealed trans-nerolidol and alpha-pinene as the predominant constituents of the oil with the content of 61.92 % and 11.02 %, respectively.No minimum inhibitory concentrations were obtained by the antimicrobial assy. The E. deglupta essential oil showed only very weak inhibitory effect against the bacteria tested with <= 50 % inhibition of the bacterial growth whereas B. cereus was the most sensitive organism and E.faecalis was the most resistant one. The low antimicrobial activity can be explained by the total absence of eucalyptol, an antimicrobial compound typical for Eucalyptus spp.

Keywords

Antimicrobial, Eucalyptus deglupta, antibacterial, Essential oil

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 11. 4. 2016

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: Ing. Pavel Nový, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Olga Leuner, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources

Master programme / odbor:
Natural Resources and Environment / Natural Resources and Environment