Antibacterial activity and essential oil composition of Calendula arvensis L.

Essential oil composition and antibacterial activity of Calendula arvensis L. were investigated. The essential oil of aerial part was obtained through hydro-distillation using a Clevenger type apparatus with 0.38 (v/w) yield. The essential oil components were determined by GC-MS analyses. Thirty-six components were identified in the essential oil that represented 91.8 % of the oil. The major components of the essential oil were δ-cadinene (14.8 %), epi-cubebol (10.7 %), α-cadinol (8.5 %), cubenol (7.7 %), cubebol (7.2 %), 1-epi-cubenol (5.4 %) and ledene (5.1 %). Antibacterial activity of essential oil was observed against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 by using a broth microdilution. The essential oil showed weak inhibitory activity against E. coli and B. cereus at 8 mg/mL. The oil didn‘t show any antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. These results revealed that the oil was rich in oxygenated sesquiterpenes as well as had a weak antimicrobial activity.