Abstract

This study analyzed the chemical composition, in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the hydrodistillated essential oil obtained from fresh leaves of a novel plant ofCinnamomum camphora Chvar. Borneol. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the oil resulted in determination of 27 compounds, composing 98.14% of the oil. d-Borneol (81.58%), camphor (2.96%), and α-pinene (2.03%) were determined as the major components. Antioxidant activities of the essential oil and d-Borneol were analyzed in two aspects, namely β- carotene/linoleic acid and reducing power. The essential oil exhibited the highest antioxidant activity in β-carotene/linoleic acid, slightly weaker than that of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), the standard commercial synthetic antioxidant among the experiments examined. Moreover, the essential oil exhibited moderate reducing power which was evaluated in terms of the total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The essential oil and d-Borneol exhibited antimicrobial effect as a diameter of zones of inhibition (9.21±0.6 to 22.12±1.3 and 7.32±0.5 to 20.42±1.4 mm), respectively, along with their MIC values (31.25 to 125 and 62.5 to 250 μg/ml) against bacteria, yeasts and moulds.

Key words: Cinnamomum camphora Chvar. Borneol, essential oil, d-Borneol, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity.