Abstract

ALARCON, Libia D. et al. Composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Myrcia fallax (Rich.) D.c. from Venezuela. Rev. Soc. Quím. Perú [online]. 2009, vol.75, n.2, pp.221-227. ISSN 1810-634X.

Essential oils obtained from leaves and flowers of Myrcia fallax by hydrodistillation were analyzed by GC-MS and GC-FID. GC analysis revealed the presence of 30 compounds in the oil obtained from the leaves, 19 of these compounds were identified which represent 83.4 %. The oil from the flowers contained 15 compounds 12 of which were identified. The main constituents of the leaves' oil were guaiol (31,0%) and carotol (9.9%), while in the flowers' oil the most abundant compounds were guaiol (27.5%) and aristolone (24,5%). Carotol was separated by flash chromatography and its structure confirmed by 1 D and 2D NMR experiments. The antibacterial properties of essential oils were investigated against five reference strains. The essential oil from flowers was effective only against Gram positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, with MIC values of50 and400μg/mL, respectively.

Keywords : Myrcia fallax; Myrtaceae; guaiol; aristolone; carotol; antibacterial activity.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )