Study of volatile compounds and antimicrobial activity of Thuja essential oils

Abstract

For over 5,000 years, various crops have used these herbal oils for a variety of health problems. The history of the use of essential oils has its roots in antiquity in countries such as Persia, India, Egypt, China. Essential oils are generally formed during the flowering period of plants and accumulate in flowers, fruits, leaves, roots or bark. The chemical composition of an essential oil obtained from a plant differs depending on the parts of the plant from which it was extracted. This paper lists information about Thuja shrubs which includes 5 species of trees, two of which are native to North America (Thuja occidentalis, Thuja plicata) and three from Western Asia (Thuja koraiensis, Thuja standishii, Thuja sutchuenensis). It presents taxonomy, chemical composition, pharmacological properties and notions about Thuja essential oils. The research part presents the identification of volatile compounds in thuja essential oil by GC-MS method and testing the antimicrobial effect of thuja essential oil.

Keywords

• thuia
• volatile compounds
• antimicrobial activity