Essential oil from aerial parts of of Betonica grandiflora Willd. from Iran

Abstract

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of Betonica grandiflora Willd., growing wild in Iran, was analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for the first time. Overall, 40 volatile components were identified on the basis of their mass spectra characteristics and retention indices in which ledol (21.8%), myrtenyl acetate (21.7%), eudesm-7(11)-en-4-ol (6.5%), trans-caryophyllene (5.5%), α-bisabolol (4.9%) and isolongifolol (4.5%) were the major constituents. Oxygenated sesquiterpenes, monoterpene hydrocarbons and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were the main groups of compounds with 45.6%, 23.1% and 18.4%, respectively. The oil was moderately active against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus and inactive against Enterococcus faecalis and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Keywords:

• essential oil
• Betonica grandiflora
• Labiatae
• antibacterial activity
• ledol
• myrtenyl acetate

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr V. Mozaffarian (Research Institute of Forest and Rangelands, Tehran) for helpful assistance in collecting plant material and for botanical identification. Also we thank for financial support of this study the Research Council of Shahid Beheshti University.