Chemical characterization, antimicrobial and antioxidant evaluation of Cymbopogon jwarancusa (Jones) Schult. essential oil.

The present study describes the results of phytochemical, antimicrobial and antioxidant study on the essential oil of Cymbopogon jwarancusa from India. The major constituents identified were cis-p-menth-2-en-1-ol (25.3–31.8%), trans-p-menth-2-en-1-ol (14.0–16.6%), δ-2-carene (11.8–15.8%), cis-p-menth-1-en-3-ol (10.5–14.2%) and trans-p-menth-1-en-3-ol (8.0–9.2%). Significant quantitative variations in composition were noticed during annual growth in different harvesting seasons. The essential oil exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis and Streptococcus mutans. However, in the antifungal assay, Candida kefyr, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei were found to be more susceptible to essential oil of C. jwarancusa. The essential oil exhibited dose dependent antioxidant activity in DPPH and nitric oxide scavenging assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]