Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Phyllanthus muellerianus (Kuntze) Excel essential oil

Ethnopharmacological relevance:Phyllanthusmuellerianus (Kuntze)Excel(family Euphorbiaceae) stem
bark isusedinCameroonbyBakapygmiesasaremedyforwoundhealingandtetanus.
Aim ofthestudy: To characterizethechemicalcompositionandtoevaluatetheantimicrobialproperties
of theessentialoiloftheplant.
Materialsandmethods: The essentialoilwasextractedfromthestembarkbydynamicheadspaceand
by hydrodistillationandcharacterizedbyGCandGC-MSanalyses.Theantimicrobialactivitywas
evaluatedonthebasisoftheminimuminhibitoryconcentration(MIC)andtheminimumbactericidal–
fungicidalconcentration(MBC–MFC)bythemicroandmacrodilutionmethods.Thefollowingbacteria
and fungiwereused: Clostridiumsporogenes ATCC 3584, Staphylococcusaureus ATCC 6538, Streptococcus
mutans ATCC 25175, Streptococcuspyogenes ATCC 19615, Escherichiacoli ATCC10536, Candidaalbicans
ATCC10231, Candidaalbicans LM 450, Trichophytonmentagrophytes LM 230, Trichophytonrubrum LM
237, Microsporumcanis LM 324.
Results: The hydrodistillationafforded0.06%(dryweightbasis)ofpaleyellowoil.Thirty-eight
compoundsrepresenting90.69%wereidentified.Themajorcomponent(36.40%)wasfoundtobe
(E)-isoelemicin,identifiedbycomparisonofits 1H-NMR experimentaldata,withliteraturedata.Theoil
showedgoodantibacterialactivityagainst ClostridiumSporogenes, StreptococcusmutansandStrepto-
coccuspyogenes with MICrangingfrom13.5to126 mg/ml.Aweakantifungalactivity(MIC250 mg/ml)
was foundagainst Trichophytonrubrum, only.
Conclusions: The antimicrobialactivityandthechemicalcompositionof Phyllanthusmuellerianus stem
bark essentialoilarereportedforthefirsttime.