Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of the Essential Oil of Galium tricornutum subsp. longipedanculatum from Pakistan

Abstract

About 24 species of the genus Galium are reported from Pakistan, distributed from plains to mountains. In Flora of Pakistan, Nazimuddin et al. recognized two subspecies of Galium tricornutum, i.e., subsp. tricornutum and subsp. longipedanculatum [1]. Most species of the genus have medicinal properties, and reports showed that cleavers (Galium) have anti-elastase and anti-collagenase activities [2]. In traditional Chinese medicine, Galium verum L. is often used in the treatment of hepatitis and phlebophlogosis [3]. Literature reveals that the medicinal plants of the genus Galium are widely used in the folk medicine of various countries [4] for the treatment of jaundice [5], as an antitumor, antimicrobial, and antiinflammatory [6], and for the treatment of gout and epilepsy [7]. Medicinal plant species of the genus Galium have been used as a source of dye, therapeutics, and food for years. Literature reviews show reports on the essential oil content of members of this genus [8–10]. A thorough review of the literature shows that our report is the first report on the essential oil composition of the Galium tricornutum subspecies longipedanculatum. A voucher specimen (SHPC-024) has been deposited in the Herbarium, Department of Botany, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal and at the Herbarium of the University of Karachi (No. 7399). GC and GC/MS analysis showed that the oil is composed of eucalyptol (20.8%), L-camphor (13.9%), L-borneol (11.6%), myrtenol (5%), 2-methyl-2-adamantanol (3.0%), and -cubene (2.6%), as shown in Table 1.