Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Fruit Essential Oil of Xylopia aethiopica D. Grown in Nigeria

AbstractQualitative and quantitative analyses of the chemical constituents of fruit essential oil of Xylopia aethiopica and its antibacterial activity were investigated. Pulverized fruit of X. aethiopica was hydrodistilled in a Clevenger type apparatus. The resulting oil was characterized by Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and its antibacterial activity was evaluated using agar diffusion method. Hydro-distilled X. aethiopica fruits yielded 1.3% v/w of essential oil. Investigation by GC-MS revealed that bulk of the oil was constituted by hydrocarbon monoterpenes (44.0%). The major constituents of the oil were; Eugenol (12.2%), acetyleugenol (7.0%), 1,8-cineole (6.8%), sabinene (6.7%), cis-ocimene (6.2%), β-caryophyllene (5.6%), γ-terpinene (5.3%), α-pinene (4.3%), β-linalool (4.3%), α-terpineol (4.1%), pinocarveol (3.7%), terpinene-4acetate (3.6%), α-thugene (3.6%), β-phellandrene (3.5%) and benzylbenzoate (3.3%). The oil showed various degree of inhibitory effect against three gram positive b...