Antimicrobial Activity and Composition of the Essential Oil from Zhumeria majdae Rech. f. & Wendelbo

The aerial parts of Zhumeria majdae were collected at full flowering stage from Geno, Bandar Abbas, Iran. The essential oil was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by combination of capillary GC and GC-MS. Thirteen components were identified, representing 97.4 of the total oil. Linalool (63.3%), camphor (23.8%) and limonene (3.6%), were the main components. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Z. majdae was studied against seven Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and three fungi (Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger). The results of the antimicrobial activities of the essential oil according to the disk diffusion method and MIC values indicated that the oil exhibited high antimicrobial activity against Gram positive bacteria and low to moderate activity against the Gram negative organisms.