Volatile constituents and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Tetrataenium lasiopetalum (Apiaceae) from Iran

The aerial parts of Tetrataenium lasiopetalum were collected from Oshtoran Kuh (Lorestan province) of Iran and its volatile oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC and GC-MS. Forty compounds were identified, representing 94.3% of the total oil. Germacrene-D (27.0%), 2-ethyl hexyl acetate (11.0%), alpha-zingiberene (8.8%) and beta-bisabolene (4.7%) were the main components. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (59.7%) and aliphatic esters (24.3%) were found to be the major groups of compounds. In vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of T. lasiopetalum was conducted against four Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis) and three Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacteria, as well as three fungi (Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger). The results of the bioassay showed that the oil exhibited moderate to high antimicrobial activity. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.