Abstract
The essential oil of the berries of Litsea laevigata Nees., growing wild in Western Ghats, Kerala, India, was obtained by hydrodistillation and was fractionated by passage through a column using n-pentane and diethyl ether as eluents. The essential oil and its fractions were analysed by GC and GC-MS. Twenty seven compounds representing 99.2% of the original oil were identified. The major components are the terpene hydrocarbons trans-α-bergamotene(26.7%), α-pinene (25%) and β-pinene (8.2%). The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil and its fractions against four Gram-positive and four Gram-negative bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus albus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella aerogenes), as well as two fungi (Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger) was studied. The bioassay showed that the oil exhibited moderate to high antimicrobial activity, being very active against gram-positive bacteria, such as Streptococcus albus, and the fungus Aspergillus niger.