CHEMICAL COMPOSITION ANALYSIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL SCREENING OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF A RARE PLANT FROM JORDAN: DUCROSIA FLABELLIFOLIA

The composition of the essential oil isolated from the fresh and dry leaves of Ducrosia flabellifolia Boiss. (Apiaceae) was determined by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using hydrodistillation and solid phase microextraction (SPME). The hydrodistilled oil of the fresh leaves yielded 38 components, accounting for 98.67% of the total oil content, while thirty components were detected from the fresh leaves by solid phase microextraction (94.85%). Fifty-one and 36 components were identified in the hydrodistilled and SPME oils of the dried leaves amounting to 98.78% and 94.52%, respectively. A total of 25 components accounting for 97.24% of the total composition were characterized in the SPME oil of the fresh flowers. Aliphatic compounds predominated in the volatile fractions of the leaves and flowers of both methods with n-decanol, n-decanal, and dodecanal as the main constituents. The - and ss-pinene were the major monoterpenoids in the oils. The hydrodistilled oil was screened for its antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The minimal inhibitory concentration of the volatile oil was determined using a microdilution method in 96 well plates against a panel of gram (+), gram (-) bacteria, and fungi. Overnight cultures of reference strains of Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus were used as test microorganisms. The oil exhibited the best activity against C. albicans (MIC 234 mu g/mL) and S. aureus (MIC 234 mu g/mL) whereas weak activity was detected against E. coli and P. aeruginosa. No antioxidant activity could be detected.