Antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of rosin from cones of Abies cilicica subsp cilicica

Essential oil from the rosin of cones of Abies cilicica (Ant. Et Kotschy.) subsp. cilicia Carr. grown in Turkey was obtained by the hydro-distillation method and the antimicrobial activities of the oil were evaluated. The antimicrobial results showed that the microbial activities of the oil were considerably dependent upon concentration and its bioactive compounds. The oil inhibited the growth of all the bacteria and yeasts except for Escherichia coli at an oil concentration of 4 mu l/disc. Saccromyces cerevisiae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Mycobacterium smegmatis were the most sensitive microorganisms to the essential oil due to their low MIC values of 0.5 mu g/ml. The results indicated that limonene was the most effective constituent on the microbial activities, followed by alpha-pinene, myrcene, and beta-pinene, the most effective antifungal activities were also determined for myrcene.