Essential oil of the sandarac tree shown to have antimicrobial properties

A study in the Journal of Essential Oil Research evaluated the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils of Tetraclinis articulata, commonly known as the sandarac tree.

• Researchers analyzed the essential oils of fresh and dried leaves of T. articulata by GC-FID and GC-MS, identifying 62 and 54 volatile compounds representing 88 percent and 98 percent of the total essential oil composition, respectively.
• They listed the main compounds of T. articulata essential leaf oils:
  • alpha-pinene (36.1 percent in fresh, 44.1 percent in dried leaves)
  • camphor (1.7 percent/20.1 percent)
  • bornyl acetate (18.3 percent/3.1 percent)
  • limonene (2.9 percent/5.0 percent)
  • borneol (2.3 percent/3.1 percent)
  • myrcene (2.2 percent/2.9 percent)
  • beta-caryophyllene (2.3 percent/1.3 percent)
  • camphene (1.5 percent/1.8 percent)
• They tested the antimicrobial activity of T. articulata essential oils against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans, responsible for nosocomial infections.
• The essential oils of T. articulata were active on all pathogenic strains tested.

Based on the results, it was concluded that the essential oil composition of T. articulata has antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic strains.

Journal Reference:

Bahri F, Romane A, Hoferl M, Wanner J, Schmidt E, Jirovetz L. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ESSENTIAL OIL OF ALGERIAN TETRACLINIS ARTICULATA (VAHL) MASTERS. Journal of Essential Oil Research. 2015;28(1):42–48. DOI: 10.1080/10412905.2015.1076739