Fitoterapia 73 2002.

414 416

Short report

Antibacterial activity of Syzygium cumini and Syzygium traancoricum leaf essential oils
P.M. Shafi a,U , M.K. Rosammaa , Kaiser Jamil b, P.S. Reddy b
b

Department of Chemistry, Calicut Uni ersity, Kerala, 673 635, India Biology and Biotechnology Di ision, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, 500 007, India Received 16 July 2001; accepted in revised form 18 May 2002

Abstract The leaf essential oils of Syzygium cumini and Syzygium tra ancoricum were tested for their antibacterial property. The activity of S. cumini essential oil was found to be good, while that of S. tra ancoricum was moderate. 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Syzygium cumini; Syzygium tra ancoricum; Essential oil; Antibacterial activity

Plant. Syzygium cumini L.. Skeels and Syzygium tra ancoricum Gamble Myrtaceae., leaves were collected in June from Kerala, South India and authenticated by Dr A.K. Pradeep, Department of Botany, Calicut University. Voucher specimens are deposited at the herbarium, Department of Chemistry, Calicut University. Uses in traditional medicine. S. cumini has been used against dysentry w1x, to treat inflammation w2x and diabetes mellitus w3x. No traditional use is reported for S. tra ancoricum.
U

Corresponding author. E-mail address: shafimuham@rediffmail.com P.M. Shafi..

0367-326Xr02r$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 6 7 - 3 2 6 X 0 2 . 0 0 1 3 1 - 4

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Previously isolated classes of constituents. Essential oil w4x, alkanes w5x and organic acids w5x. Tested material. Essential oils yield: 0.04% from S. cumini and 0.1% from S. tra ancoricum). S. cumini major components: pinocarveol 15.1., -terpeneol 8.9., myrtenol 8.3., eucarvone 6.6., muurolol 6.4., myrtenal 5.8., geranylacetone 5.6., -cadinol 4.6., pinocarvone 4.4. w4x; S. tra ancoricum: trans--ocemene 44.7., trans--caryophyllene 32.9., -humulene 6.7., -farnesene 4.9. w4x. Studied activity. Antibacterial activity by disk diffusion method w6x. Micro-organisms used. Listed in Table 1 from IICT Hyderabad, Hyderabad-500 007, India.. Results. Reported in Table 1.

Table 1 Antibacterial activity of essential oils from Syzygium cumini and Syzygium tra ancoricum leavesU Bacteria Zone of inhibition mm. S. cumini Basillus sphaericus Basillus subtilis Staphylococcus aureus Escherichia coli Pseudomonas aeruginosa Samonella typhimurium
U

S. tra ancoricum 11 10 12 11 11 12

PEN-G 20 19 18 9 8 10

16 13 14 12 17 20

Used concentration: 5 l each of the essential oil or 5 l of 30 mgrml solution of benzylpenicillin sodium PEN-G..

Conclusions. Plant extracts of Syzygium species are known antibacterials w7x. Essential oils of plants belonging to the family Myrtaceae are known for their biological activities which is suggested to be due to the presence of 1,8-cineole w8x. Even if the two essential oils tested in this work do not contain 1,8-cineole, these oils showed considerable antibacterial activity especially against Salmonella typhimurium.

Acknowledgements Plant identification by Dr A.K. Pradeep, Department of Botany, Calicut University is gratefully acknowledged.

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References
w1x Rastogi RP, editor. Compendium of Indian medicinal plants. Publication and Information Directorate, New Delhi: CSIR, Vol. 3, 1993 w2x Chaudhuri AKN, Pal S, Gomes A, Bhattacharya S. Phytotherapy Res 1990;4:5. w3x Bhattari NK. Fitoterapia 1992;63:497. w4x Jirovetz I, Buchbauer G, Puschmann C, Fleischhacker W, Shafi PM, Rosamma MK. J Essent Oil Bearing Plants 1999;2:68. w5x Ross IA. Medicinal plants of the world. Totowa, New Jersey: Humana Press, 1999. w6x Bauer AW, Kirby WMM, Sherris JC, Truck M. Am J Clin Pathol 1966;45:493. w7x Chattopadhyay D, Sinha BK, Vaid LK. Fitoterapia 1998;69:365. w8x Lis-Balchin M, Deans SG, Eaglesham E. Flavour Fragrance J 1998;13:98.