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Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of the Essential Oil from Gnaphalium elegans Kunth from Loja, Ecuador

Abstract:

In the present research the essential oil from aerial parts of Gnaphalium elegans was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by Gas Chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and Gas Chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID) techniques, twenty-one chemical compounds were identified which represent a 96.33 % of the total essential oil. The main compounds were: γ-curcumene (55.61 %), Italicene (4.69 %), α-cubebene (4.45 %), δ-cadinene (4.28 %) and α-pinene (3.57 %). The antimicrobial activity and antifungal activity of this essential oil was assayed against two Gram positives bacterium: Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus; five Gram negatives bacterium: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and Salmonella Tiphymurium; and three fungi: Tricophyton mentagrophytes, Tricophyton rubrum and Aspergillus niger. The essential oil was inactive against all bacterium at the maximum concentration tested 1000 μg/mL. However, the essential oil from G. elegans presented a moderate activity against Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes with a MIC of 500 μg/mL and 1000 μg/mL, respectively. This is the first report on the chemical composition and biological activity of essential oil from this species.