Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oil from fruits of Illiciumverum Hook. f.

Abstract

The essential oil of the fruit of Illiciumverum Hook. f. was extracted using Clevenger’s apparatus. Sixty three com- pounds were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Anethole was characterized as the major constituent, followed by estragole amongst the volatile constituents. The oil was also analyzed for its antibacterial activity against 8 typed cultures and 5 clinical isolates. Further the minimal inhibitory concentration of the oil against the sensitive organisms was tested. It was found that the oil was active against 3 clinical isolates and 1 NCIM culture. The MIC was found to vary between 0.7μl/ml to 3.5 μl/ml.