Composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of the leaves of black currant (Ribes nigrum L.) cultivar Čačanska crna

The essential oil from the leaves of the Serbian black currant cultivar Cacanska crna, obtained by hydrodistillation, was analyzed by gas chromato- graphy-flame ionization detection and GC-mass spectrometry. The most abun- dant volatile compounds were Δ 3 -carene (18.7 %), β-caryophyllene (17.7 %), sabinene (11.6 %), cis-β-ocimene (10.6 %) and α-terpinolene (10.6 %). The antimicrobial activity of the oil was evaluated against 14 micro-organisms, in- cluding two clinical isolated strains, using the broth microdilution method. The most susceptible micro-organisms were Escherichia coli, Streptococcus faeca- lis, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Trichophyton mentagrophy- tes isolates. Furthermore, the flavonol aglycones in the leaves after acid hyd- rolysis were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed by HPLC, and quercetin was found to be the dominant compound (84 mg/g dw).