Isolation, Characterization, and Biological Activity of some Fatty Acids and Volatile Oils from Iraqi Eucalyptus microtheca Plant

This study aims at investigating the chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of some extracted essential and fixed oils from leaves of Eucalyptus microtheca plant grown in Iraq. Analysis of the isolated oils has been achieved by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) Technology. The study reveals existence of sixteen compounds. Camphene (20.60%), 4-carene (18.53%), 1,8-cineole (11.96%), terpin-4-ol (8.70%) and p-cymene (8.39%) were the highest components in these essential oils. While nine compounds were obtained as fixed oils, pentadecanoic acid (36.47%) and cis-vaccenic acid (30.31%) were the major components. The antimicrobial activity of the leaves extracts was evaluated against six different gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria using disk diffusion method and exhibited good inhibition activity. Moreover, antioxidant assay (free radical scavenging activity) demonstrated good activity for the extracted oils. The results show that the aerial parts (leaves) of the Iraqi E. microtheca plant possess antibacterial and antioxidant properties and may suggest it as a good candidate to use for medicinal purposes.