Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential Oils Obtained from the Leaves and Stems of Schisandra perulata Gagnep.

In the present study, essential oils from the leaves and stems of Schisandra perulata Gagnep. from Vietnam were reported for their chemical constituents and antimicrobial activity. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation was analyzed using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, while the broth microdilution assay was used to evaluate its antimicrobial activity. This study indicates the presence of a high percentage of sesquiterpenes in both the leaf and stem essential oils of S. perulata. The major constituents of the leaf essential oil were beta-elemene (18.34%), gamma-cadinene (12.26%), alpha-zingiberene (10.87%) and (E)-nerolidol (6.53%), whereas those of stem essential oil were alpha-copaene (15.63%), beta-elemene (11.84%), gamma-cadinene (8.67%), alpha-cadinol (5.67%) and alpha-zingiberene (5.46%). The antimicrobial study depicted by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) showed that the leaf and stem essential oils were active against Staphylococcus aureus with MIC values of 200 mu g/mL and 100 mu g/mL, respectively. Both leaf and stem essential oils possessed good activity against Enterococcus faecalis with a MIC value of 100 mu g/mL. However, only stem essential oil inhibited the growth of Bacillus cereus with a MIC value of 200 mu g/mL. In general, the results are an indication of the potential of S. perulata essential oils as a source of antimicrobial agents. In addition, the chemical components and antimicrobial activity of the S. perulata leaf essential oil are reported for the first time.