Molecules 2012, 17(3), 3044-3057; doi:10.3390/molecules17033044
Article

Correlation Between Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils from Fifteen Eucalyptus Species Growing in the Korbous and Jbel Abderrahman Arboreta (North East Tunisia)

Ameur Elaissi 1,†,* email, Zyed Rouis 2,† email, Samia Mabrouk 3 email, Karima Bel Haj Salah 2 email, Mahjoub Aouni 2 email, Mohamed Larbi Khouja 4 email, Farhat Farhat 5 email, Rachid Chemli 1 email and Fethia Harzallah-Skhiri 3 email
1 Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, Avenue Avicenne, Monastir 5019, Tunisia 2 Laboratory of Transmissible Diseases and Biologically Active Substances, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, rue Avicenne, Monastir 5000, Tunisia 3 Laboratory of Genetic, Biodiversity and Bio-resources Valorisation, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Monastir, University of Monastir, Avenue Tahar Haddad, Monastir 5000, Tunisia 4 National Institute for Research on Rural Engineering, Water and Forestry, Institution of Agricultural Research and Higher Education, BP. N.2, Ariana 2080, Tunisia 5 Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, Avenue Avicenne, Monastir 5019, Tunisia † These authors contributed equally to this work.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 13 January 2012; in revised form: 18 February 2012 / Accepted: 20 February 2012 / Published: 12 March 2012
(This article belongs to the Section Medicinal Chemistry)
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Abstract: The essential oils of fifteen Eucalyptus species harvested from the Jbel Abderrahman and Korbous arboreta (North East Tunisia) were screened for their antibacterial activities by the agar disc diffusion method. Eighteen major components as identified by GC/FID and GC/MS were selected for a study of the chemical and biological activity variability. The main one was 1,8-cineole, followed by spathulenol, trans-pinocarveol, α-pinene, p-cymene, globulol, cryptone, β-phellandrene, viridiflorol, borneol, limonene and isospathulenol. The chemical principal component analysis identified five species groups and subgroups, where each group constituted a chemotype, however that of the values of zone diameter of the inhibition (zdi) identified six groups of Eucalyptus oils, characterized by their antibacterial inhibition ability. The strongest activity was shown by E. platypus oil against Enterococcus faecalis and by E. lamannii oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. A correlation between the levels of some major components and the antibacterial activities was observed.
Keywords: antibacterial activity; Eucalyptus leaf essential oil composition; principal components analysis (PCA); hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA)

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Elaissi, A.; Rouis, Z.; Mabrouk, S.; Salah, K.B.H.; Aouni, M.; Khouja, M.L.; Farhat, F.; Chemli, R.; Harzallah-Skhiri, F. Correlation Between Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils from Fifteen Eucalyptus Species Growing in the Korbous and Jbel Abderrahman Arboreta (North East Tunisia). Molecules 2012, 17, 3044-3057.

AMA Style

Elaissi A, Rouis Z, Mabrouk S, Salah KBH, Aouni M, Khouja ML, Farhat F, Chemli R, Harzallah-Skhiri F. Correlation Between Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils from Fifteen Eucalyptus Species Growing in the Korbous and Jbel Abderrahman Arboreta (North East Tunisia). Molecules. 2012; 17(3):3044-3057.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Elaissi, Ameur; Rouis, Zyed; Mabrouk, Samia; Salah, Karima Bel Haj; Aouni, Mahjoub; Khouja, Mohamed Larbi; Farhat, Farhat; Chemli, Rachid; Harzallah-Skhiri, Fethia. 2012. "Correlation Between Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils from Fifteen Eucalyptus Species Growing in the Korbous and Jbel Abderrahman Arboreta (North East Tunisia)." Molecules 17, no. 3: 3044-3057.

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