The Chemical Profiling of Essential Oils from Different Tissues of Cinnamomum camphora L. and Their Antimicrobial Activities

Abstract

Cinnamomum camphora L. is grown as an ornamental plant, used as raw material for furniture, as a source of camphor, and its essential oil can be used as an important source for perfume as well as alternative medicine. A comparative investigation of essential oil compositions and antimicrobial activities of different tissues of C. camphora was carried out. The essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation with a Clevenger apparatus and their compositions were evaluated through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), enantiomeric composition by chiral GC-MS, and antimicrobial properties were assayed by measuring minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Different plant tissues had different extraction yields, with the leaf having the highest yield. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 18, 75, 87, 67, 67, and 74 compounds in leaf, branch, wood, root, leaf/branch, and leaf/branch/wood, respectively. The significance of combining tissues is to enable extraction of commercial quality essential oils without the need to separate them. The oxygenated monoterpene camphor was the major component in all tissues of C. camphora except for safrole in the root. With chiral GC-MS, the enantiomeric distributions of 12, 12, 13, 14, and 14 chiral compounds in branch, wood, root, leaf/branch, and leaf/branch/wood, respectively, were determined. The variation in composition and enantiomeric distribution in the different tissues of C. camphora may be attributed to the different defense requirements of these tissues. The wood essential oil showed effective antibacterial activity against Serratia marcescens with an MIC of 39.1μg/mL. Similarly, the mixture of leaf/branch/wood essential oils displayed good antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatus while the leaf essential oil was notably active against Trichophyton rubrum. C. camphora essential oils showed variable antimicrobial activities against dermal and pulmonary-borne microbes.

Volatile Compounds and Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Selected Citrus Essential Oils Originated from Nepal

“…Fresh fruit peel of citrus was cut into small pieces and essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation in Clevenger apparatus as previously described [38]. The essential oil was dried using anhydrous sodium sulfate and was stored in bottles at 4 • C until use in further studies.…”

“…The carrier gas was helium (80 psi) with a column head pressure of 48.7 kPa and a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The injector temperature was 260 • C, and the detector temperature was 280 • C. The GC oven temperature was programmed as follows: hold a 40 • C initial temperature for 10 min; followed by an increase in temperature at 3 • C/min to 200 • C, and then increased at 2 • C/min to 260 • C. A 5% w/v solution of each CEO sample in dichloromethane was prepared, and 1 µL of the sample was injected using a 30:1 split ratio [38,39]. Identification of compounds was based on the retention indices determined by reference to a homologous series of n-alkanes and by comparison of the mass spectral fragmentation patterns.…”

“…The carrier gas was helium with a constant flow rate of 1.8 mL/min. For each essential oil sample, 3% w/v solution in DCM was prepared, and 0.1 µL was injected using a split ratio of 1:45 [38,40,41]. The enantiomer percentages were determined from the peak area.…”

Advances in Biosynthesis and Pharmacological Effects of Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Presl Essential Oil

“…Compound Name Molecular Formula References Bibliography monoterpene Oxygenated monoterpenes citral C10H16O [18] borneol C10H18O [18] linalool C10H18O [12,19,20] camphor C10H16O [19][20][21] eucalyptol C10H18O [12,[19][20][21] α-terpineol C10H18O [7,12,[19][20][21] safrole C10H10O2 [19,21] Monoterpene hydrocarbons phellandrene C10H16 [12] α-Pinene C10H16 [7,12,20,21] β-Pinene C10H16 [7,12,20,21] sabinene C10H16 [7,20] myrcene C10H16 [6] limonene C10H16 [21] camphene C10H16 [6] sesquiterpene Oxygenated sesquiterpene nerolidol C15H26O [12,20] iso-nerlidol C15H26O [18] spathulenol C15H24O [12,19] Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons germacrene C15H24 [12] β-caryophyllene C15H24 [12,18,20] elemene C15H24 [9]…”

Essential Oils in Respiratory Mycosis: A Review

“…Indeed, this could explain the excellent activity of some of the essential oils pointed out above such as Thymus vulgaris (rich in thymol) and Lavandula multifida (with high amounts of carvacrol). Besides phenolic compounds, other essential oils constituents such as safrole have shown very effective antifungal abilities against A. fumigatus, with a MIC of 39.1 µg/mL [42]. Interestingly, although the essential oil obtained from the roots of Cinnamomum camphora had a high concentration of this compound (57.6%), the antifungal potential of the whole extract was not so prominent (MIC = 312.5 µg/mL), thus showing that, in some cases, antagonistic effects may also take place between different compounds present in the mixture.…”