Study on Chemotypic Variations in Essential Oil ofCinnamomum tamala(Buch.-Ham.) Nees et Eberm. and their Antibacterial and Antioxidant Potential

Abstract The essential oil compositions of fresh, shade and sun dried leaves of two chemotypes of Cinnamomum tamala (Buch.-Ham.) Nees et Eberm. were analyzed and compared using capillary GC and GCMS.The analysis led to the identification of 82 constituents forming 94.9 % to 98.7 % of the total oil compositions dominated by phenyl propanoids (59.9 %-88.4 %). The fresh and dried leaf essential oil of chemotype-I was dominated by (E)-cinnamaldehyde (82.1 %-86.1 %), linalool (4.4 %-6.7 %), (E)-cinnamyl acetate (0.9 %-4.0 %) and benzaldehyde (1.6 %-1.7 %) as major constituents. While the leaf essential oil of chemotype-II of C. tamala; also dominated by phenyl propanoids, was mainly represented by eugenol (56.9 %-60.4 %) and methyl eugenol (2.3 %-2.5 %). Other constituents identified were germacren D-4-ol (6.0 %-6.8 %), limonene (5.0 %6.2 %), α-selinene (3.4 %-3.6 %), δ-2-carene (3.0 %-3.6 %) and p-cymene (2.7 %-3.3 %). The essential oils were screened for their possible antagonistic activity against six bacterial strains viz. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis. The results of antibacterial activity showed that the essential oils of both chemotypes of C. tamala showed strong activities against most of the tested pathogens, based on the zone of inhibition and MIC values. The antioxidant activity of fresh leaf oils of both chemotypes of C. tamala were also tested by DPPH radical scavenging system.