Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil of Mastic Gum and their Antibacterial Activity Against Drug-Resistant Helicobacter pylori

Mastic gum is derived from the tree named Pistacia lentiscus that is grown only in Island Hios of Greek. Since Mastic was first reported to kill Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in 1998, there has been no further study to elucidate which component of mastic specifically shows the antimicrobial activity against H. pylori. In this study, we examined which component of mastic gum was responsible for anti-H. pylori activity. We prepared the essential oil of mastic gum and identified 20 constituents by GC-MS analysis. Ten standard components were assayed for anti-H. pylori activity, and it clarified that alpha-terpineol and (E)-methyl isoeugenol showed the anti-H. pylori activity against four different H. pylori strains that were established from patients with gastritis, gastric ulcer and gastric cancer. These components could be useful to overcome the drug-resistance H. pylori growth in stomach.