Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don Commercial Essential Oil from Serbia

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been preferred sources against drug-resistant pathogens recently. The antimicrobial activities of essential oils have been known for a long time. In the present research, the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of commercial essential oil of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don (HIE) were evaluated. Seventy components which constitute 95.7%, were identified in the oil. The major constituents of HIE were neryl acetate (15.6%), α-pinene (11.5%), and γ-curcumene (11.3%). The oilwas screened for antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion and broth microdilution methods. The essential oil displayed remarkable antibacterial activity against test bacteria, except for Escherichia coli, which displayed resistance. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of essential oil were 5 μg/mL for Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 10 μg/mL for Bacillus cereus and B. subtilis. These results suggested that the commercial oil of H. italicum has the potential to be used as a natural antibacterial agent.