Comparative Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activities of Myrtus communis L. Essential Oils Isolated from Tunisian and Algerian Population

Abstract

The chemical composition of Essential oils isolated by hydrodistillation from leaves of Tunisian and Algerian Myrtus communis L. population was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Twenty three compounds were identified, representing 93.73% of total oil, which was found to be rich in monoterpenes hydrocarbons (53.38%) particularly α-Pinène (35.30%) and α-limonène (14.76%). The physico-chemical properties were determined. The percentage of all components varied within and among population. The highest percentages of α-Pinène (45.4%) and 1.8-Cineole (35.7%) were observed in the Algerian population. The percentage of α-limonène was significantly higher in the Tunisian population (18.16%). The study of antibacterial activity revealed that 10 μl of Myrtus communis L. essential oil significantly inhibited the growth of five tested bacteria especially Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella sp., and Listeria sp.