Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don fil. (Asteraceae) from Montenegro

An experimental investigation on essential oil of a Montenegrin Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don fil. (Asteraceae) is reported. The essential oil was analysed in both liquid and vapour phases. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the liquid oil showed the predominance of sesquiterpenes with β-eudesmene (21.65%) and β-bisabolene (19.90%) as the major ones. Monoterpene fraction was mainly represented by α-pinene (16.90%) and neryl acetate (10.66%). Head-space technique revealed the vapour phase enriched of monoterpenes with α-pinene (78.76%) predominance. The essential oil was tested against methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Candida albicans (ATCC 14053) and the clinical strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Interesting fungicidal/bactericidal potency against C. albicans and carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii was revealed at concentration of 5% v/v.