Chemical composition and in vitro antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Rhynchosia heynei, an endemic medicinal plant from Eastern Ghats of India

Abstract

Rhynchosia heynei Wt. & Arn. (Fabaceae) is an endemic medicinal plant found in the forests of Eastern Ghats of India. The essential oil obtained from the leaves by steam distillation was studied for antimicrobial activity and chemical characterization. The essential oil exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity on eight bacterial and three fungal strains. The essential oil was characterized chemically using gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. The majority of the components of the essential oil of R. heynei are oxygenated terpenes, such as, terpineol, camphene hydrate, germacrene-D, humulene, and linalool. etc.

Keywords::

• Rhynchosia heynei
• Eastern Ghats
• antimicrobial activity
• essential oil components

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.