Abstract

Fresh plant material of Skimmea laureola growing wild in the state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir was collected and subjected to Clevenger-type hydro distillation apparatus for essential oil extraction. The essential oils have been analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Twenty components were identified, which yields about 96% of the total oils. The major components of the oils were linalalyl butyrate (35%), geraneol (9.5%), nerol (8.8%), citrolenol (7.7%) and ά-phallendrene (6.5%). Essential oil also exhibited good 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) radical scavenging activity showing 93.1% of inhibition and inhibition of peroxidation 45.02%. The essential oil of S. laureola showed appreciable antimicrobial activity against battery of selected species of bacteria and fungi, assessed by disc diffusion and measurement of minimum inhibition by micro dilution method. The plant was selected because of their reported medicinal importance in the indigenous system of medicines from ancient times and is abundantly available in various parts of Pakistan and particularly in State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Key words: Skimmea laureola, essential oils composition, in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activity.