Antibacterial activity and composition of the essential oils of <i>Eucalyptus camaldulensis</i> Dehn. and <i>Myrtus communis</i> L. growing in Northern Cyprus

Abstract

Water-distilled essential oils from leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. and Myrtus communis L., collected from Northern Cyprus, were analysed by GC-MS. The major constituents of the essential oil from E. camaldulensis Dehn. were ethanone (25.36%), eucalyptol (13.73%), -caryophyllene (11.55%) and carvacrol (9.05%). Eucalyptol (50.13%) was identified as the main constituent of the essential oil of Myrtus communis L. The other important components were linalool (12.65%), -terpineol (7.57%) and
limonene (4.26%). M. communis showed some activity on Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria while E. camaldulensis was found to have a low activity. The higher efficacy of M. communis was confirmed by the agar dilution method.