Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Effects of Essential Oil of Rhus coriaria Fruits in the West of Iran (Kermanshah)

Increasing bacterial resistance to chemical antibiotics and their probable side effects leads to the popularity of ethnomedicinal plants, so the need for novel antibacterial compounds with plant origin is felt more than ever. The objective of the present study was to assess the chemical composition and antibacterial activities of essential oil of Rhus coriaria on Escherichia coli 0157:H7 (ATCC No. 25922) (EC), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PTCC No. 1707) (PA), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC No. 25923) (SA) and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC No. 21332) (BS). Gas chromatography Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was done to determine the chemical composition of R. coriaria. Agar disk and agar well diffusion methods were used to investigate the antibacterial properties of R. coriaria. Macrobroth tube test was run to specify Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). The results demonstrated that beta-caryophyllene (34.3 %) and cembrene (23.8 %) were the most frequently found constituents in R. coriaria. Also, R. coriaria with 2, 3 and 15 mg/ml concentrations prevented the growth of PA, EC/SA and BS, respectively, and with 3 and 15 mg/ml concentrations destroyed EC/SA and PA/BS, respectively. The obtained results indicated the antibacterial effects of R. coriaria on EC, PA, SA and BS. It seems that this plant can be utilized as an antibiotic to treat some bacterial infections.