Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial activity of the Volatile oil of the leaves of Cymbopogon citratus (Lemongrass)

Trivikram Rawat^1*, I.P.Pandey², Suman Lata Chhimwal^2
1Member, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, Unites States of America
²Department of Chemistry, D.A.V. (P.G.) College, Dehradun, 248001, India

A B S T R A C T
The aim of the present study was to investigate the various chemical components present in the volatile oil of leaves of Cymbopogon citratus and to determine its antimicrobial activity. Nineteen compounds were identified in the C.citratus oil sample representing 99.8% of the detected compounds that included Citral, geranial, and myrcene as major component. The antimicrobial activity was assayed using the oil and a 2% cream formulation of the oil and a cup plate method by measuring the zone of inhibition of growth. The gram-positive organisms used were Bascillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus megaterium and Bascillus coagulans. The gram-negative organisms used were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Psedomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhii. In-vitro antifungal studies were also carried out using, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma lignorum. The standard drug used was Ciprofloxacin, for gram-positive, gram-negative and also for fungi. Both the oil and the cream formulation displayed anti-microbial activity against fungi and bacteria.
Keywords: Cymbopogon citratus, volatile oil, Cream formulation, antimicrobial activity.