Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of the Essential Oil from Gnaphalium elegans Kunth from Loja, Ecuador.

In the present research the essential oil from aerial parts of Gnaphalium elegans was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by Gas Chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and Gas Chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID) techniques, twenty-one chemical compounds were identified which represent a 96.33 % of the total essential oil. The main compounds were: γ-curcumene (55.61 %), Italicene (4.69 %), α-cubebene (4.45 %), δ-cadinene (4.28 %) and α-pinene (3.57 %). The antimicrobial activity and antifungal activity of this essential oil was assayed against two Gram positives bacterium: Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus; five Gram negatives bacterium: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and Salmonella Tiphymurium; and three fungi: Tricophyton mentagrophytes, Tricophyton rubrum and Aspergillus niger. The essential oil was inactive against all bacterium at the maximum concentration tested 1000 μg/mL. However, the essential oil from G. elegans presented a moderate activity against Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes with a MIC of 500 μg/mL and 1000 μg/mL, respectively. This is the first report on the chemical composition and biological activity of essential oil from this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]