Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil of Psammogeton canescens.

This study reports the chemical composition, antimicrobial activity and antioxidant properties of Psammogeton canescens essential oil (EO) and its main compounds. The EO was obtained from the aerial parts of P. canescens by hydrodistillation and analysed by using GC/MS. The main constituent was β-bisabolene (25%), followed by α-pinene (20%), apiole (15.34%), γ-terpinene (7.34%), p-cymene (5.35%), β-pinene (5.41%), camphene (5.12%), dill apiole (5%), myrcene (4.54%), colchicine (0.56), sylvestrene (0.56%), β-caryophyllene (0.45%), caryophyllene oxide (0.43%), (Z)-β-farnesene (0.32%), cembrene (0.21%), folic acid (0.21%), germacrene D (0.14) and β-sesquiphellandrene (0.13). β-Bisabolene exhibited strong antioxidant activity (14 ± 0.8 μg/mL). The EO of P. canescens was particularly active against Candida albicans and Escherichia coli, with the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentration values. In conclusion, these results support the use of the EO and its main compounds for their antioxidant properties and antimicrobial activity.