Antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of Melaleuca genistifolia leaf essential oil from the northern plains of India

Biological and chemical investigations were carried out to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of Melaleuca genistifolia leaf oil for herbal medicines. The disk diffusion and micro broth dilution methods were used for the evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil and its major constituent, methyl eugenol against the five selected bacterial and five fungal strains. The oil was active against all the tested bacterial and fungal strains. The oil was highly active against Staphylococcus epidermidis and significantly active against S. aureus, Sporothrix schenckii and Trichophyton rubrum, while methyl eugenol was significantly active against Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus mutans and Escherichia coli. GC and GC-MS analysis of the oil resulted in the identification of twenty two constituents representing 99.4% of the oil. The chemo type identified had a high methyl eugenol (88.1%) content. The essential oil could be of use for the future development of antimicrobial herbal products.