Chemical composition and antibacterial assay of essential oil from Thalictrum punduanum Wall

Abstract

Thalictrum punduanum Wall. is extensively dispersed in northern India and grows on damp rocky slopes among mosses. Many different diseases have been successfully treated using potent herbal remedies from the genus Thalictrum. The essential oil from the plant species was extracted using a steam distillation procedure, and the resulting oil was analyzed using GC-FID and GC/MS techniques. The chromatogram showed more than seventy peaks, however, forty-six compounds were identified, constituting 85.3% of the oil. n-Nonadecanol (21.1%), phytol (17.1%), 6R,7R bisabolene (9.1%), bifloratriene (7.6%) and 6,10,14 trimethylpentadecan-2-one (6.1%) were found to be the major constituents of the essential oil. The essential oil of T. punduanum showed the dominance of oxygenated diterpenes and nonterpenic constituents. The antibacterial activity of the oil was tested by using the standard method (disc diffusion) against seven animal and three plant pathogens. The oil exhibited good to moderate activity against a majority of the pathogens. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was recorded at a minimum concentration of 31.25μL/mL against Xanthomonas phaseoli and Enterococcus faecalis, and the oil has good potential as an antimicrobial against these two pathogens.