J Ethnopharmacol. 2002 Nov; 83(1-2): 117-21.

Compositions and the in vitro antimicrobial activities of the essential oils of Achillea setacea and Achillea teretifolia (Compositae).

Unlü M, Daferera D, DÃƒÂ¶nmez E, Polissiou M, Tepe B, SÃƒÂ¶kmen A.

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.

GC-MS analysis of the isolated essential oils from air-dried aerial parts of Achillea setacea and Achillea teretifolia, an endemic taxon, resulted in the identification of 51 constituents (79.8% of the total oil) and 42 constituents (87.1% of the total oil), respectively. Eucalyptol (1,8-cineole) was the major constituent of both oils studied (18.5 and 19.9%, respectively). The antimicrobial activities of the essential oils were individually evaluated against 14 microorganisms. Both oils exhibited inhibitory effects on Clostridium perfringens, Acinetobacter lwoffii and Candida albicans with a range of minimum inhibitory concentration values extended from 0.28 to 2.25 mg/ml. Camphor and their derivatives, borneol, terpinen-4-ol and eucalyptol (1,8-cineol) can be considered as the main antimicrobial constituents of the oils studied.