Isolation, Chemical Composition, Physicochemical Properties, and Antibacterial Activity of Cupressus sempervirens L. Essential Oil

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine some of the biological activities and physicochemical properties of the Cupressus sempervirens L. essential oil (EO). C. sempervirens L. EO was isolated by hydrodistillation. GC-MS was used to identify the compounds of the EO. The results revealed that the major compounds identified in the EO showed a predominance of alpha-pinene (42 %), followed by delta-3-carene (21.26 %) and limonene (5.96 %). The antioxidant activities of the EO were measured with DPPH tests and beta-carotene bleaching. Four bacterial strains, i.e., Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus faecalis, were used to assess the antibacterial properties. The C. sempervirens L. EO had remarkable antibacterial activity against S. aureus, E. faecalis and E. coli. It had a contact toxic effect on and manifested a repellent activity against adults of Sitophilus granarius. The latter were optimized at a dose of 0.16 mu l/cm(2).