Chemical Composition of Essential Oil Extracted from Urtica pilulifera and Evaluation Its Biological Activity

Abstract

The essential oil has been extracted from the aerial parts of Urtica pilulifera from Urticacea family collected in south west of Hama in Syria by hydro-distillation using Clavenger type apparatus. The composition, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essential oil was achieved and characterized by means of GC-MS and comparing with the references in the literature. A total of 45 compounds of the essential oil were characterized. The major compounds in the oil was dominated by four compounds representing the majority of the components: (-) Limonene (1.24%), 1,8-Cineole (8.20%), 3-Carene (3.76%), (+) Limonene (6.76%), Terpinene (2.41%), Vanillin (1.70%), Butyl acetate (3.23%), 1,2-Benzene dicarboxylic acid (13.50%), 7-Acetyl-6-ethyl-1,1,4,4-tetramethyltetralin (19.61%). The other compounds were mostly presented in low amounts. The biological effects of aromatic oil were studied on some pathogenic bacteria including: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli.

Keywords: Urtica pilulifera, Urticacea, hydro-distillation, Clavenger, essential oil, GC-MS, biological effects, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli.