Study on Antimicrobial Activity and Chemical Components of Essential Oil from Michelia Figo Spreng Leaves

The essential oil from Michelia figo Spreng leaves was extracted by steam distillation. The antimicrobial activities of essential oil on bacteria and fungi were tested by plate counts and filter paper methods, and we also did the gas antisepticise experiment, analyzing the chemical constituents of essential oil by GC-MS. The results showed that: the antimicrobial effect of the essential oil from M figo leaves on Escherichia con G-, Staphylococcus aureus G+ and Bacillus sabtills were very good. The LC50 were: 0.64, 0.77, 0.62 (mu L.mL(-1)), and the MIC were: 18.9, 20.1, 15.2 (mu L.mL(-1)). But the essential oil had poor effect on Mucor racemosus, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus oryzae, the antimicrobial rates of them were lower than 50%. Gas antisepticise experiments showed it had good antimicrobial effects under the gas conditions. Twenty three compounds were separated and identified respectively from the essential oil, and the main antimicrobial compounds of the essential oil from M. figo leaves were analyzed in the experiment.