Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Ferula szovitsiana DC

The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from stem/leaves and flowers/fruits of Ferula szovitsiana (Umbelliferae) were analysed by GC and GC-MS. The composition of the oils samples from stem/leaves and flower/fruits were compared: 51 and 47 compounds were identified in the essential oils of stem/leaves and flowers/ fruits, representing 97.7% and 95.9% of the total oils, respectively. Both essential oils were rich in monoterpenes (66.7% and 62.1%, respectively) with neryl acetate as major component (33.0% and 41.5%, respectively). Other abundant compounds for stem/leaves oil were beta-caryophyllene (8.9%), alpha-pinene (8.0%), P-pinene (6.7%), bicyclogermacrene (4.5%), caryophyllene oxide (4.1%), limonene (4.6%) and a-terpineol (3.2%). These values for flowers/fruits oil were bicyclogermacrene (9.0%), a-pinene (5.5%), beta-pinene (3.9%), gamma-cadinene (3.5%), and calarene (3.2%). Furthermore, the oils were tested against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and two pathogenic fungi. It was found that oil from F. szovitsiana represents the most potent antimicrobial candidates with MIC of 1.25 mg/disk for Bacillus subtilis. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.