Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of <i>Helichrysum italicum</i> (Roth) G. Don fil. (Asteraceae) from Montenegro

Abstract

An experimental investigation on essential oil of a Montenegrin <i>Helichrysum italicum</i> (Roth) G. Don fil. (Asteraceae) is reported. The essential oil was analysed in both liquid and vapour phases. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the liquid oil showed the predominance of sesquiterpenes with <i>β</i>-eudesmene (21.65%) and <i>β</i>-bisabolene (19.90%) as the major ones. Monoterpene fraction was mainly represented by α-pinene (16.90%) and neryl acetate (10.66%). Head-space technique revealed the vapour phase enriched of monoterpenes with <i>α</i>-pinene (78.76%) predominance. The essential oil was tested against methicillin-sensitive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (ATCC 29213), <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ATCC 25922), <i>Candida albicans</i> (ATCC 14053) and the clinical strains of methicillin-resistant <i>S. aureus</i>, carbapenem-resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>, carbapenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> and carbapenem-resistant <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>. Interesting fungicidal/bactericidal potency against <i>C. albicans</i> and carbapenem-resistant <i>A. baumannii</i> was revealed at concentration of 5% <i>v/v</i>.