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Composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils of two populations of Tanzanian Lippia javanica (Burm. f.) Spreng. (Verbenaceae)
Author(s) -
Ngassapa Olipa,
Runyoro Deborah K. B.,
Harvala Evangelia,
Chinou Ioanna B.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
flavour and fragrance journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.393
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1099-1026
pISSN - 0882-5734
DOI - 10.1002/ffj.1195
Subject(s) - verbenaceae , myrcene , linalool , limonene , essential oil , camphor , antimicrobial , chemistry , sabinene , botany , lippia , chemical composition , germacrene , caryophyllene , traditional medicine , food science , biology , organic chemistry , medicine
The chemical composition of essential oils obtained from leaves of two samples of Lippia javanica (Burm. f.) Spreng, collected from the same locality in Tanzania, was analysed by GC and GC–MS. Sixty constituents (91.3%) of one sample and 38 constituents (76.0%) of the other sample were identied. The main components of the two oils were geranial, neral, limonene, germacrene‐D, camphor, linalool, β ‐caryophyllene and myrcene. The two oils were signicantly different in their chemical composition. This implies that the two L. javanica populations could be two different chemical races. Furthermore, antimicrobial activity of the oils was evaluated against six Gram‐positive or Gram‐negative bacteria and three pathogenic fungi, using the agar dilution technique. It was found that both oils exhibited moderate to strong activities against the bacteria tested, while both were inactive against the fungi tested. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.