Detailed GC-MS analyses of the Myrtus communis L., essential oil and the antifungal activity assessment

Abstract

Myrtus communis L., Myrtaceae, known as true myrtle, is a widely distributed evergreen shrub native to Mediterranean regions. This medicinal plant, used worldwide, possess a broad spectrum of phytochemical, pharmacological and therapeutic effects, mostly due to a large number of up to now detected, or isolated, essential oil components, considered the main biologically active ones. Multifarious secondary metabolite content, dependent on a geographic region, season of harvest and the length of distillation, depicts the variability of the essential oil composition obtained in general from its leaves, branches, fruits and flowers. Herein, we present the results of meticulous analyses of the essential oil (2.2%, w/w) constituents obtained from M. communis leaves, collected during the summer period from the coastal regions of peninsula Luštica, Montenegro. Detailed GC-MS analyses enabled the identification of 66 constituents, among which 1,8-cineole (28.4%), linalool (18.4%), α-pinene (16.6%), geranyl acetate (6.6%), α-terpineol (6.3%) and linalyl acetate (4.2%) were the major ones. Together with the secondary metabolite profile, determination of the Montenegro true myrtle essential oil agricultural plant protection potential is also estimated, by assessing mycelia growth of Colletotrichum acutatum J.H. Simmonds C.A.2 isolates, causative of strawberry antrachnose, in vitro.