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Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Antibiofilm Activities of Backhousia citriodora Essential Oil

Lim AC 1 , Tang SGH 2 , Zin NM 3 , Maisarah AM 1 , Ariffin IA 4 , Ker PJ 5 Show all authors , Mahlia TMI 6

Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Graduate Studies, Management and Science University, University Drive, Off Persiaran Olahraga, Section 13, Shah Alam 40100, Malaysia
  • 2 Center for Toxicology and Health Risk Studies (CORE), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
  • 3 Center of Diagnostics, Therapeutics & Investigations, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
  • 4 International Medical School, Management and Science University, University Drive, Off Persiaran Olahraga, Section 13, Shah Alam 40100, Malaysia
  • 5 Institute of Sustainable Energy, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Malaysia
  • 6 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Molecules, 2022 Jul 31;27(15).
PMID: 35956846 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27154895

Abstract

The essential oil of Backhousia citriodora, commonly known as lemon myrtle oil, possesses various beneficial properties due to its richness in bioactive compounds. This study aimed to characterize the chemical profile of the essential oil isolated from leaves of Backhousia citriodora (BCEO) and its biological properties, including antioxidant, antibacterial, and antibiofilm activities. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 21 compounds were identified in BCEO, representing 98.50% of the total oil content. The isomers of citral, geranial (52.13%), and neral (37.65%) were detected as the main constituents. The evaluation of DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power showed that BCEO exhibited strong antioxidant activity at IC50 of 42.57 μg/mL and EC50 of 20.03 μg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial activity results showed that BCEO exhibited stronger antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis) than against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae). For the agar disk diffusion method, S. epidermidis was the most sensitive to BCEO with an inhibition zone diameter of 50.17 mm, followed by S. aureus (31.13 mm), E. coli (20.33 mm), and K. pneumoniae (12.67 mm). The results from the microdilution method showed that BCEO exhibited the highest activity against S. epidermidis and S. aureus, with the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 6.25 μL/mL. BCEO acts as a potent antibiofilm agent with dual actions, inhibiting (85.10% to 96.44%) and eradicating (70.92% to 90.73%) of the biofilms formed by the four tested bacteria strains, compared with streptomycin (biofilm inhibition, 67.65% to 94.29% and biofilm eradication, 49.97% to 89.73%). This study highlights that BCEO can potentially be a natural antioxidant agent, antibacterial agent, and antibiofilm agent that could be applied in the pharmaceutical and food industries. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report, on the antibiofilm activity of BCEO against four common nosocomial pathogens.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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