Volatile constituents and biological activities of the leaf essential oil of Jasminum mesnyi growing in Nepal

Prabodh Satyal1 Prajwal Paudel

Abstract

The essential oil from the leaf of Jasminum mesnyi, collected from Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal, was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. From a total of 31 peaks, 25 compounds were identified in the oil, accounting for 91.1% of the oil. The majority of the essential oil was dominated by the benzopyrone coumarin (48.9%). The oil also contained major amounts of monoterpenols including linalool (14.8%), α-terpineol (5.2%), and geraniol (3.3%). Other components of the essential oil found in smaller proportion included (Z)-asarone (3.5%) and (E)-phytol (3.4%). The oil was screened for antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Aspergillus niger, but showed no appreciable activity (MIC ³ 1250 μg/mL). Jasminum mesnyi oil did show marginal activity in the brine shrimp lethality test (LC50 = 27.03 μg/mL).