Chemical and biological evaluation of Hypericum maculatum Crantz essential oil

Abstract

The chemical composition and the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil isolated from the aerial parts of Hypericum maculatum Crantz were determined. In total, 109 compounds were identified, with germacrene D (21.5%), nonane (6.5%), (E)-β-farnesene (5.3%), δ-cadinene (4.5%), and ledol (4.4%) as the main constituents. The chemical compositions of this oil and of four previously studied H. maculatum oils were compared using multivariate statistical analyses, viz., agglomerative hierarchical cluster and principal component analyses. Based on the results, the interrelationship among the hitherto studied H. maculatum oil samples, including the oil characterized here, was discussed. The study of the antimicrobial potential of the oil against five bacterial and two fungal strains showed that the oil had mainly moderate antimicrobial effects.

Keywords: Agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC); Antimicrobial activity; Essential oils; Hypericum maculatum; Principal component analysis (PCA).