Bioguided identification of antimicrobial compounds from Chrysopogon zizaniodes (L.) Roberty root essential oil

: Aim: To determine the group of compounds from Chrysopogon zizaniodes root essential oil that have antimicrobial activity. Materials & methods: Thin-layer chromatography coupled to direct bioautography was used to determinate the fraction(s) having antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VREF). Through GC-MS identification, the fractions with the greatest similarity to the active thin-layer chromatography fraction were used to determinate the MIC. Results: The subfraction 8 from column chromatography was responsible for the best MIC for MRSA (62.5 μg/ml) and VREF (125 μg/ml). Five compounds possibly responsible for antimicrobial activity were preliminary identified. Conclusion: We suggest that Cedr-8-en-13-ol, could be the more relevant compound involved in the antimicrobial activity in this study.