Chemical composition and bioactivity of the volatile oil from leaves and stems of Eucalyptus cinerea

Figures & data

Table 1. Percentage yield, physical characters and physical constants of the volatile oil of the leaves and stems of Eucalyptus cinerea.

Item	Juvenile leaves	Stems
Percentage yield^a	4.5	0.5
Color	Faint yellow	Yellow
Odor	Camphor like
Specific gravity	0.953	0.961
Refractive index	1.458	1.461
Solubility in EtOH 95%	1:3	1:3

^aResults are mean of three determinations, calculated on fresh weight basis.

Table 2. Constituents identified by GC/MS analysis of the volatile oil of the juvenile leaves and stems of Eucalyptus cinerea.

				Percentage
No.	Rt	Constituent	K.I.	Juvenile leaves	Stems
1	5.72	α-Pinene	939	2.90	8.00
2	7.08	β-Pinene	979	0.02	–
3	7.48	β-Myrecene	991	0.04	0.15
4	8.07	α-Phellandrene	1003	0.10	0.58
5	8.77	p-Cymene	1023	0.47	0.25
6	8.98	Limonene	1027	1.50	1.19
7	9.18	1,8-Cineole	1031	84.55	60.15
8	9.27	β-trans-Ocimene	1037	–	0.30
9	9.66	β-cis-Ocimene	1052	0.09	–
10	10.12	γ-Terpinene	1064	0.89	0.75
11	11.86	β-Linalool	1099	0.07	0.24
12	13.58	Pinocarveol	1141	0.08	–
13	15.41	Terpinene-4-ol	1179	0.79	0.87
14	16.16	α-Terpineol	1187	2.14	8.55
15	18.08	β-Citral	1318	–	0.21
16	19.45	α-Citral	1343	–	0.35
17	21.95	Methyl geranate	1325	0.25	0.94
18	23.1	Terpinyl acetate	1354	4.90	7.70
19	33.16	Globulol	1585	0.22	1.89
Total identified constituents				99.01%	92.12%
Hydrocarbons
Monoterpenes				6.01	11.22
Sesquiterpenes				–	–
Total hydrocarbons				6.01	11.22
Oxygenated compounds
Monoterpenes				92.78	79.01
Sesquiterpenes				0.22	1.89
Total oxygenated compounds				93.00	80.90

The significance for the bold is for emphasis and to draw attention to the high values with their corresponding compounds.

Table 3. The antibacterial activity of the volatile oil of the juvenile leaves and stems of E. cinerea.

	Diameter of zone of inhibition (mm) (%, potency relative to standard drug)
Microorganism	Oil (Juvenile leaves) (%)	Oil (stems) (%)	Ref. standard Norfloxacin (%)
Bacillus subtilis	15 (71.42)	13 (61.9)	21 (100)
Staphylococcus aureus	17 (65.38)	13 (50)	26 (100)
Streptococcus faecalis	18 (90)	13 (65)	20 (100)
Escherichia coli	16 (69.57)	10 (43.47)	23 (100)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa	16 (72.73)	12 (54.54)	22 (100)
Neisseria gonorrhea	16 (64)	13 (52)	25 (100)

Table 4. Antifungal activity of the volatile oil of the juvenile leaves and stems of E. cinerea.

	Diameter of zone of inhibition (mm) (%, potency relative to standard drug)
Microorganism	Volatile oil of leaves (%)	Volatile oil of stems (%)	Ref. standard amphotericin B (%)
Candida albicans	16 (76.19)	11 (52.38)	21 (100)
Aspergillus flavus	14 (73.7)	10 (52.63)	19 (100)

Table 5. In vivo antioxidant effect of the volatile oil of the juvenile leaves and stems of E. cinerea.

Group	Blood glutathione level (mg/dl)	Relative potency
Control	36.3 ± 1.4	–
Diabetic non-treated	21.4 ± 0.5^a	–
Diabetic + vitamin E (7.5 mg/kg)	35.9 ± 1.2	1
Diabetic + leaves volatile oil (100 mg/kg)	33.7 ± 1.1	0.94
Diabetic + stems volatile oil (100 mg/kg)	29.6 ± 0.7	0.82

Results are the average of three determinations.

^aStatistically significant from control group at p < 0.01.

Table 6. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the volatile oil of the juvenile leaves of E. cinerea.

	MIC (µl/ml)
Sample	Escherichia coli (G^−)	Pseudomonas aeruginosa (G^−)	Streptococcus faecalis (G^+)	Candida albicans	Aspergillus flavus
Eucalyptus cinerea leaf oil	5.2	5.6	4	4.8	12.8