Chemical compositions and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of Piper abbreviatum, P. erecticaule and P. lanatum (Piperaceae)

The study was designed to examine the chemical composition and antimicrobial activities of essential oils extracted from the aerial parts of three Piper species: Piper abbreviatum, P. erecticaule and P. lanatum, all from Malaysia. GC and GC/MS analysis showed qualitative and quantitative differences between these oils. GC and GC-MS analysis of P. abbreviatum, P. erecticaule and P. lanatum oils resulted in the identification of 33, 35 and 39 components, representing 70.5%, 63.4% and 78.2% of the components, respectively. The major components of P. abbreviatum oil were spathulenol (11.2%), (E)-nerolidol (8.5%) and β-caryophyllene (7.8%), whereas P. erecticaule oil mainly contained β-caryophyllene (5.7%) and spathulenol (5.1%). Borneol (7.5%), β-caryophyllene (6.6%) and α-amorphene (5.6%) were the most abundant components in P. lanatum oil. Antimicrobial activity was carried out using disc diffusion and broth micro-dilution method against nine microorganisms. All of the essential oils displayed weak activity towards Gram-positive bacteria with MIC values in the range 250-500 μg/mL. P. erecticaule oil showed the best activity on Aspergillus niger (MIC 31.3 μg/mL), followed by P. lanatum oil (MIC 62.5 μg/mL). This study demonstrated that the essential oils have potential as antimicrobial agents and may be useful in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.