Chemical composition and biological evaluation of the essential oil of Commiphora opobalsamum L

The chemical composition of three essential oil samples (stored aerial parts, fresh aerial parts, and fresh flowering tops) of Commiphora opobalsamum L., obtained by hydrodistillation, was determined using GC-MS analysis. The identified constituents represented 69.5 to 84.4 percent of the total chemical compounds of the three samples. The major components were α-cadinol in the stored aerial parts, α-calacorene in the fresh aerial parts, and terpinen-4-ol in the fresh flowering tops. The essential oil from the fresh aerial parts exhibited antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida glabrata, C. krusei, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Mycobacterium intracellulare. The same oil sample was non-selectively cytotoxic to four tumor cell lines: SK-MEL, KB, BT549 and SK-OV3. Weak antioxidant activity of the oil from the fresh aerial sample was demonstrated in a DPPH free-radical scavenging assay.