Chemical and Antimicrobial Properties of Essential Oils from Three Coniferous Trees Abies koreana, Cryptomeria japonica, and Torreya nucifera

Three coniferous essential oils were extracted from Abies koreana, Cryptomeria japonica, and Torreya nucifera by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of each oil was analyzed by GCMS, and their antimicrobial activities were tested against two bacteria and one yeast strains. Fortyseven compounds were identified from A. koreana oil, 39 from C. japonica, and 59 from T. nucifera. Main components of the essential oils were limonene (23.5%), bornyl acetate (17.9%), (11.1%), and camphene (10.2%) in A. koreana, kaurene (26.3%), (19.0%), elemol (6.9%), and sabinene (5.1%) in C. japonica, limonene (13.5%), (10.5%), (10.2%), and (7.7%) in T. nucifera. Among the three coniferous trees tested, the essential oils of A. koreana exhibited higher and broader antimicrobial activity against the tested organisms than those of C. japonica and T. nucifera.