Abstract
Tea tree oil (TTO) from the genus Melaleuca L. has antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant properties and is used by the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and horticultural industries. In Pakistan, Melaleuca bracteata can be exploited for essential oil purposes, as this species is well adapted to Pakistan’s agroclimatic conditions. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the yield of M. bracteata essential oil together with its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties under local prevailing conditions of the subtropics. Essential oil was extracted through the hydrodistillation method. Using this method, six batches of 8 kg samples (fresh leaves and branches) underwent a distillation process for 4–5 h. The average yield obtained was about 0.2%. The GCMS was used to identify the components of extracted essential oil. Eugenol methyl ether is the major component in extracted essential oil, i.e., 96% of the total. A high content of flavonoids and phenolics and a Fe-reducing power ability of M. bracteata were observed. The oil was also found effective against B. subtilis, B. cereus, White rot, and A. flavus. Hence, it is concluded that there is a possibility to use TTO for its biocidal properties, and it must also be inspected and then commercialized in Pakistan by the agriculture and cosmetic industries.
Highlights
Previous literature has proclaimed methyl eugenol as the major component of M. bracteata oil, with 86.5% of the total volume [24,25]. The latter indicated methyl cinnamate as the second highest compound, representing 11% of the total. Another team of scientists documented the percentage of methyl eugenol to be greater than 95% in the tea tree oil of bracteata, which is quite related to the present finding [26]
It is concluded that the present detection of antioxidants in tea tree oil from Melaleuca bracteata is in accordance with previous reports of several scientific studies, and this species could be explored as an antioxidative essential oil along with its patent plant species (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus were tested against tea tree oil from Melaleuca bracteata
Summary
Natural products from plants are under immense consideration in the organic world. One such utilization is of essential oils that are complex volatile compounds extracted from leaves, twigs, flowers, seeds, branches, buds, fruits, and roots. The volatile oil product of this genus is familiar to the world with the name of tea tree oil (TTO). The species that are under commercial use for essential oil production are Melaleuca alternifolia, M. cajuputi, M. bracteata, and M. quinquenervia [6]. This study aims to investigate the local adapted species of tea tree oil for more exploration and assessment of this essential oil
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