Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Phellodendron lavallei.

The essential oils from inflorescences, fruits and leaves of Phellodendron lavallei Dode were analyzed by GC, GC/MS and IH NMR spectroscopy. About 100 compounds were identified. The principal components in the fruit oil were myrcene (47.7-52.0%) and limonene (38.4-40.9%), followed by germacrene D (1.2-3.2%) and (E)-p-caryophyllene (2.4-2.9%). The inflorescence oil contained mainly myrcene (44.8%), limonene (43.2%) and (E)-ß-ocimene (4.1%). The main constituents of the leaf oil were limonene (26.7%) myrcene (22.1%), (E,E)-a-famesene (5.6%) and a-pinene (5.0%). The antibacterial activity was examined towards both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The fruit oil showed weak activity against the bacteria tested.