Essential Oil Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Eryngium caeruleum Grown Wild in Iran

An experiment was carried out to identify the essential oil composition and antibacterial activitiy on Eryngium caeruleum (Apiaceae). Aerial part of E. caeruleum was harvested at pre-flowering stage. Essential oil was obtained by hydro-distillation using Clevenger type apparatus during approximately 3 hours and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Fifty six components were identified in E. caeruleum oil that represented 99.79 % of the oil. The main components of the oil were, cyclobuta[1,2,3,4]dicyclooctene, hexadecahydro (47.03 %), n-hexadecanoic acid (11.16 %), linoleic (5.41 %), limonene (4.23 %) and cis-alpha-bisabolene (2.14 %). Antibacterial activity of the essential oil was evaluated by micro broth dilution and disc diffusion methods. The oil showed high antibacterial activity against Streptomyces scabies, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv citri, Erwinia amylovora, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Klebsiella sp. But on the other bacteria tested is ineffective.