Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of the Leaf Essential Oils of Duguetia gardneriana Mart. and Duguetia moricandiana Mart. (Annonaceae)

As part of their continuing studies on the constituents of the genus Duguetia, these authors have studied the composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils obtained from the leaves of two species, and the results are reported here. A hydrodistilled oils obtained from the leaves of Duguetia gardneriana and Duguetia moricandiana were analyzed by GC/MS. The oils showed a total of 33 components. Germacrene D (28.1%), viridiflorene (24.0%), beta-pinene (12.6%), alpha-pinene (9.1%) and beta-caryophyllene (5.6%) were found to be the major individual constituents of D. gardneriana oil. The leaf oil of D. moricandiana was dominated by germacrene D (44.3%), alpha-pinene (13.0%), viridiflorene (9.3%), beta-pinene (9.2%) and beta-caryophyllene (6.8%). The oils were tested for their antimicrobial activity against 11 pathogenic microorganisms using standard gel diffusion method. The essential oil of D. gardneriana showed activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida guilliermondii, while the essential oil of D. moricandiana was more active against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans.