Chemical Composition and Physicochemical Properties of Essential Oil from Myrtus communis

Objective: The objective of the study was to extract the essential oil and to determine the physicochemical properties, chemical composition of the essential oil from Myrtus communis leaves by using GC-MS. Methods: 500 g of the powdered material (dried leaves) was subjected to hydro-distillation using Clevenger-type apparatus for 3 hours and the essential oil was dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate. The physicochemical properties essential oil such as solubility, density, specific gravity, refractive index, optical rotation, specific rotation, acid value, saponification value and ester value were determined, which are used to determine the quality of essential oils extracted from plant leaves. The chemical composition of the essential oil of Myrtus communis leaves was analysed using GC-MS. Results: The yield of essential oil of Myrtus communis leaves was 0.463  0.001 g/100 gram of dry sample which is 0.463  0.001 % (w/w) with pale yellow colour and pleasant odour. The essential oil of Myrtus communis leaves was slightly soluble in water and ethanol while it was soluble in chloroform, petroleum ether and ethyl acetate. The essential oil was subjected to GC-MS analyses, twenty eight components representing 99.949 % of the total oil composition. Conclusion: The present study indicates that the extraction of essential oil from Myrtus communis leaves and GC-MS analysis, the essential oil of this plant have a potential of secondary metabolites which can be exploited as a good source of bioactive substances.