Luis B Rojas

Chemical Composition and Bioactivity on Bacteria and Fungi of the Essential Oil from Lippia micromera Schauer

Abstract The chemical composition and bioactivity of the volatile oil from the leaves of Lippia micromera Schauer from Mérida (Venezuela) have been studied. A yield of 0.65 % of oil was obtained by hydrodestillation and 98.8 % of the oil component was identified. Thymol (33.7 %) was the most abundant constituents of the oil, other abundant components were γ-terpinene (14.5 %), pcymene (10.2 %), and 1-isopropil-2-methoxy-4-methyl benzene (10.6 %). Activity against seven bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella sonnei), one fungus (Aspergillus niger) and three yeasts (Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces fragilis) were evaluated. Bacterial strains were highly sensitive and the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) found was less than 2 mg/ml of oil. Fungi and yeast strains showed to be even more sensitive than bacteria to the action of the oil with MFC values between 250 and 500 μg/ml.