Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Monticalia andicola (Asteraceae) Collected in Venezuela

The essential oil from the leaves of Monticalia andicola Turcz., collected in November 2008, was analyzed by GC/MS. A yield of 0.15% oil was obtained by hydrodistillation. Thirty-six components were identified by comparison of their mass spectra with those in the Wiley GC-MS Library data base. The major components were α-pinene (19.6%), β-pinene (10.5%), α-longipinene (6.5%), δ-3-carene (6.2%), cyperene (5.4%) and β-phellandrene (5.2%). The antibacterial activity of the essential oil was evaluated against Gram- positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25992, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 23357, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853) bacteria, using the disc diffusion agar method. The results showed a broad spectrum of activity with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 10 to150 μg/mL.