ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ESSENTIAL OILS OF Malvaviscus arboreus Cav, Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr., Byrsonima crassifolia (L.) Kunth AND Psidium guajava L.

Abstract

The essential oils of leaves of Malvaviscus arboreus Cav., Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr., Byrsonima crassifolia (L.) Kunth and Psidium guajava L., obtained by hydrodistillation were evaluated as potential antimicrobial agents against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC 4028) and Bacillus cereus (ATCC 11778). Disk diffusion, microdilution and bioautography methods were used for antimicrobial activity evaluation; subsequently, the possitive extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometry detector (GC-MS) to obtain the chemical profile. The essential oils of the four species showed antimicrobial activity by the agar diffusion method against the three strains of microorganisms. As for the bioautography, it was found that the component at a frontal reference (Rf) 0.42 from fraction four of the P. dioica essential oil, inhibited the growth of B. cereus, S. typhimurium and S. aureus. In the microdilution test, B. cereus was the most susceptible microorganism to all essential oils tested. Eugenol was the major component of P. dioica and P. guajava with abundance percentages of 94.86% and 33.84%, respectively.