Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Leutea elbursensis Mozaff. Essential Oil from Dried Aerial Parts and Rhizome.

Natural products are among the safe sources to produce and survey new bioactive compounds. Leutea elbursensis Mozaff. (Apiaceae) is an endemic and wild plant in Iran which grows on the foothills of Alborz Mountains. In this study, the essential oils (EOs) of dried samples of aerial parts and rhizome of L. elbursensis were extracted using Clevenger apparatus. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of EOs was evaluated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus standard strains as the models of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The results of GC/MS spectrums indicated that β-pinene (24.7%), α-pinene (23.1%), and myrtenol (11.9%) were the most dominant products of aerial parts of the plant. Moreover, EO from the rhizome of L. elbursensis contained β-pinene (26.7%), α-pinene (19.3%), myrtenol (13.1%), and n-octanal (10.5%) as significant compounds. The findings showed that essential oils from aerial portions had more antibacterial action than rhizomes did against a number of different microbes. The MIC value of the EO from aerial parts was 8 mg/mL against E. coli, whereas this value was 16 mg/mL for the EO of the rhizome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]