Composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Stachys plumosa Griseb.

The essential oil of Balkan endemic Stachys plumosa Griseb. obtained by steam distillation was analysed by GC and GC-MS. Essential oil yield was 0.15% (v/w) and 45 components were identified (86.9% of the total amount). Dehydroabietane was identified as the most prominent component (61.2%), while other constituents were present in much lower quantity, predominantly diterpenes kaurene and biformene (3.2% and 3.0%, respectively). The antimicrobial activity was tested on six bacterial strains and two fungal strains, using the agar diffusion method. Diameters of growth inhibition zones were measured. The most sensitive microorganisms were, in order: Pseudomonas aeruginosa > Bacillus subtilis > Enterococcus faecalis > Klebsiella pneumoniae > Candida albicans (ATCC 10259) > Candida albicans (ATCC 24433) > Escherichia coli > Staphylococcus aureus. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.