Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of the Levisticum Officinale W.D.J. Koch Essential Oil

Abstract

The chemical composition of industrially obtained Levisticum officinale W.D.J. Koch (lovage) essential oil of Moldovan origin was analysed by means of chromatographic (GC-MS) and spectral (IR, 1H and 13C NMR) methods. The obtained results show that the main components of L. officinale essential oil are monoterpenic hydrocarbons which make up to 53.50% of the total number of components. L. officinale essential oil is also characterized by a high content of oxygenated monoterpenes (alcohols, cetones and esters), which reaches up to 33.60%. For the first time the presence of 6-butyl-cyclohepta-1,4-diene (0.56%) and 7-formyl-4-methyl-cumarine (0.15%) in lovage essential oil is reported. Antibacterial and antifungal activities of mentioned oil were evaluated in vitro on five strains of microorganisms. It was found that lovage volatile oil (L .officinale) exhibits high antibacterial and antifungal properties in the range of concentrations 0.015-0.030%.

Keywords

• Levisticum officinale
• essential oil
• GC-MS analysis
• antibacterial activity
• anticandidal activity