Chemical compositions and antibacterial activities of essential oil from the family Rutaceae

The fresh leaves of Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr., Toddalia asiatica (Linn.) Lan. and Zanthoxylum budrunga Wall. ex Hook.f. (Rutaceae) were hydrodistilled using a Clevenger apparatus. The resulting essential oil was analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and antimicrobial activity evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The main constituents of A. marmelos were sylvestrene (82.49%), sabinene (8.93%) and germacrene D (3.54%), while those of T. asiatica were tricyclene (12.75%), 9-epi-(E)-caryophyllene (10.95%) and (E)-nerolidol (8.88%). The main constituents of Z. budrunga were limonene (31.09%), terpin-4-ol (13.94%) and sabinene (9.13%). The essential oil exhibited antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The essential oil of Z. budrunga showed the strongest activity against S. aureus, while that of A. marmelos showed strongest activity against B. subtilis. The essential oil of T. asiatica, and Z. budrunga showed the strongest activity against E. coli. The essential oil of T. asiatica and Z. budrunga showed the strongest activity against Ps. aeruginosa (concentration 1.5%v/v). As these plants are already accepted as folk medicines in Thailand, and the given the essential oil yield from each plant (i.e. 1.8, 0.5, and 4.3% respectively), these plants may be suitable for large scale commercial growth and development of a local medicinal essential oil industry.