Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil from the leaves of Eucalyptus Globulus collected from Haramaya University, Ethiopia

Abstract

Eucalyptus globulus, a plant from family myrtaceae, commonly known as blue gum, grows well in differen t parts of world and has been known since decades because of its rich ethanomedicinal and therapetic importance. Various phytochemicals isolated from the plant has been we ll known to possess various pharmacological effec ts. The aim of this study is to determine the chemical composit ion and antimicrobial properties of the essential o ils of Eucalyptus globulus grown in Haramaya university m ain campus, Ethiopia. A total of twenty one compoun ds were identified from the essential oil, by Gas chromatog raphy mass spectroscopy representing 99.85 % of the total oil.The dominant compounds being Eucalyptol (1,8-c ineole) 62.38%, α- pinene 23.79% ,α-terpinyl acetate 5.41%, globulol 1.68%, β-pinene 1.1% . The results of the antimicrobial act ivity tests revealed that the essential oil of E. globulus has antimicrobial activity, especially aga inst Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epid ermidis. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the oil ranged from 0.72 to 2.75 µl/ml.