Effect of essential oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum on some pathogenic bacteria

Several in vitro studies have demonstrated antibacterial activity of essential oils extracted from different medicinal plants. In this work, we performed extraction of essential oil from the bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum by steam distillation, the identification of their compounds was carried out by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The antibacterial effect was evaluated on seven isolates of pathogenic bacteria. The results of the chromatographic technique showed that the prevailing compound was cinnamaldehyde at a rate of 91.042%. The diameters of inhibition zones ranged from 19.5 to 30.5 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentrations were between 0.05 and 0.2%. The best antibacterial activity was observed against the Gram-positive isolates.   Key words:  Essential oil, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, pathogenic bacteria, inhibition