• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.148-157
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• 2020

Eucalyptus oil is a rich source of bioactive compounds with a variety of biological activities and is widely used in traditional medicine. Eucalyptus citriodora is cultivated for the production of essential oils. However, the mode of antibacterial action of essential oils from E. citriodora is not well-known. This study aimed to determine the chemical components, microbial inhibitory effect, and mechanism of action of the essential oil from E. citriodora. The oil was extracted from E. citriodora leaves by hydro-distillation and the chemical components were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The antibacterial activities of eucalyptus oil against gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus intermedius) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were screened by disc diffusion method and quantitative analysis was conducted by the microdilution method. The mechanism of action of the extracted essential oil was observed using SEM and analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The major components of E. citriodora oil were citronellal (60.55 ± 0.07%), followed by dl-isopulegol (10.57 ± 0.02%) and citronellol (9.04 ± 0.03%). The antibacterial screening indicated that E. citriodora oil exhibited prominent activity against all tested strains. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against B. subtilis were 0.5% and 1.0%, respectively. The MIC and MBC concentrations against S. aureus, S. intermedius, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa were 1% and 2%, respectively. As observed by SEM, the antibacterial mechanism of E. citriodora oil involved cell wall damage; SDS-PAGE revealed decrease in protein bands compared to untreated bacteria. Thus, E. citriodora oil showed significant antimicrobial properties and caused cellular damage.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.346-354
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• 1987

The voflatile fraction from Korean mandarin (Citrus reticula) and valencia orange essence oil were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography and the separated components were identified from their retention time and mass pectrum. The essence oil were extracted with methylene chloride after steam distillation. The major volatile constituents of mandarin and sweet orange was limonene which accounted for 68% of total volatiles in mandarin and 87% in sweet orange. The 31 components identified from mandarin include 11 hydrocarbones, 1 ester, 10 alcohols, 4 aldehydes, 5 miscellaneous. The following 37 components were identified in sweet orange; 12 hydrocarbones, 1 ester, 11 alcohols, 8 aldehydes, 5 misecellaneous. Mandarin contained more octanal, ${\alpha}-terpinene$, terpineol, styrene, dcitronellol, citronellal, citral and farnesol while orange included more sweet orange, myrcene, ${\beta}-pinene$, linallol, decanol, ${\beta}-copaene$, elemene, ${\beta}-cadinene$, valencene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2008

Antimicrobial activity of Zanthoxylum piperitum was investigated against Streptococcus mutans that causes dental caries. Although the methylene chloride extract of seeds exhibited higher antimicrobial activity than other organic solvent extracts, including methanol, ethyl acetate, and hexane extracts of pericarps or seeds of Z. piperitum, essential oils prepared from both seeds and pericarps possessed more potent inhibitory activity than the methylene chloride extract of seeds. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the essential oils of seeds and pericarps were 0.3 mg/ml and 4.0 mg/ml against S. mutans, respectively. When the seed essential oil was further separated into seven fractions (CS-SD-A${\sim}$CS-SD-G) by thin layer chromatography (TLC), all fractions exhibited lower antimicrobial activity than the essential oil. To understand the antimicrobial ingredients of Z. piperitum, seeds the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) data of the methylene chloride extract of seeds was compared with those of the seed essential oil (CS-SD). Whereas the methylene chloride extract of seeds contained carvacrol (0.24%), ${\beta}$-caryophyllene (1.72%), and ${\alpha}$-humulene (0.88%), which were previously known to inhibit growth of S. mutans, the seed essential oil contained sabinene (1.57%), linalool (1.55%), citronellal (13.67%), terpinene-4-ol (0.45%), citronellol (3.69%), geraniol (0.9%), linalyl acetate (1.35%), ${\beta}$-caryophyllene (1.35%), ${\alpha}$-humulene (0.78%), and ${\delta}$-cadinene (0.67%) in this regard. These results indicate that Z. piperitum seeds possess various inhibitory substances against S. mutans, and an effective method to isolate the active ingredients from the seeds is to prepare the essential oil. These results also suggest that the essential oil of Z. piperitium seeds may be applicable to preventing dental caries.