The hydrodistilled essential oil obtained from the dried leaves of Myrtus communis, collected in Yemen, was analysed by GC-MS. Forty-one compounds were identified, representing 96.3% of the total oil. The major constituents of essential oil were oxygenated monoterpenoids (87.1%), linalool (29.1%), 1,8-cineole (18.4%), α-terpineol (10.8%), geraniol (7.3%) and linalyl acetate (7.4%). The essential oil was assessed for its antimicrobial activity using a disc diffusion assay and resulted in moderate to potent antibacterial and antifungal activities targeting mainly Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. The oil moderately reduced the diphenylpicrylhydrazyl radical (IC50 = 4.2 μL/mL or 4.1 mg/mL). In vitro cytotoxicity evaluation against HT29 (human colonic adenocarcinoma cells) showed that the essential oil exhibited a moderate antitumor effect with IC50 of 110 ± 4 μg/mL. Hierarchical cluster analysis of M. communis has been carried out based on the chemical compositions of 99 samples reported in the literature, including Yemeni sample.
Keywords: GC-MS; Myrtus; Yemen; cytotoxicity; essential oil.