Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of the Essential Oil of Bursera graveolens (Burseraceae) From Peru.

Palo santo oil is an important component of the traditional Peruvian medicine and is known to have antibacterial properties. This essential oil is extracted from fallen branches of the tree B. graveolens. To validate some of its properties, the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of palo santo oil obtained from northern Peru were first examined. Based on the measurements of the diameter of growth inhibition (Agar Disc Diffusion method), antimicrobial activities ranging from moderate to high were revealed against Staphilococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli, Salmonella choleraesuis and Candida albicans. This study confirms that the essential oil of B. graveolens demonstrates significant antimicrobial properties. The antioxidant activity was determined by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH), the result, IC50 = 545.25 mu g/mL, showed a weak antioxidant activity. The total phenolic content was found to be 5.71 +/- 0.16 mg/100 g using the Folin - Ciocalteu method. About the composition of this essential oil, it was submitted to hydrodistillation and analysis by gas chromatographic equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID). Twenty-six compounds were identified, representing 67.1 % of the total oil. The most abundant compound was alpha - Terpinene (31.57%). Thus, different types of monoterpenes were the predominant constituents of the essential oil.