Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oil from flue-cured tobacco flower bud

Essential oils generally derived from one or more plant parts have been used throughout history for many great applications. In this study, the flue-cured tobacco flower buds were subjected to hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus (4 h). The essential oil was characterized by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The yield of the oil was 0.57% (w/w). After identification of the components, 34 volatile compounds were identified, which contained 55.0% of the oil. -Cembrenediol (12.24%), carotol (8.55%), isolimonene (7.37%), thunbergol (4.88%) and 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (4.09%) were the major constituents of the oil. The essential oil was also tested for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The essential oil was particularly active against Bacillus subtilis, with the lowest Minimal Inhibitory Concentration and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration value (7 and 7 mg/mL). Furthermore, the essential oil and its main compounds showed a strong potent OH scavenging effect, when compared to butylated hydroxytoluene as a positive control. In conclusion, the tobacco flower bud oil is a potential source of novel antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.