Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt ex Bor) essential oil extracted by different methods

ABSTRACT

Citronella (Cymbopogon spp.) essential oil is an important component of various fragrances, cosmetics, and household products. In this study, comparative chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt ex Bor) essential oil, extracted by different methods, namely hydro-distillation and steam-distillation were determined by GC, GC-MS, and disc diffusion assay and microdilution broth assay. Major constituents of the essential oil were citronellal (2.2–55.4%), geraniol (14.2–53.0%), citronellol (8.2–16.4%), isopulegol (0.3–12.6%), elemol (0.8–8.2%), and limonene (0.2–5.0%). The essential oils showed inhibition of test bacteria with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) in the range of 250–1000 µg/mL and showed anticandidal activity with MIC in the range of 125–500 µg/mL. In general, the oils were moderately active against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains and also showed good activity against Candidal strains. The essential oils extracted from the herbage by different techniques exhibited variations in their yield, chemical composition, and antimicrobial activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Cymbopogon winterianus
• distillation method
• aqueous distillate
• essential oil composition
• antimicrobial activity

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi and Director, CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow for providing necessary facilities (Project: HCP-0007) to carry out this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi [HCP-0007].