PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF LIBYAN PITURANTHOS CHLORANTHUS ON DIFFERENT SPECIES OF BACTERIA

The principal objectives of this current study were to identify the phytochemical constituents and the antimicrobial activities of Libyan Pituranthos chloranthus. The essential oils (EOs) that were obtained from the fresh and dry aerial parts of Libyan P. chloranthus were  isolated and analyzed by the  Gas  Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry  (GC/MS) and the hydro- distillation technique. The most constituents of the EOs obtained from the fresh herb of P. chloranthus were found to be α -pinene, sabinene, cis-ocimene, and myrcene whereas the major components of the EOs derived from the dry herb of P. chloranthus were α - phellandrene, Δ-3-carene, and β-phellandrene. The EOs of the fresh and dry herbs were also contained approximate percentages of p-cymene, limonene, trans-β-ocimene, γ-terpinene, and cis-verbenol. The paper-disc agar diffusion method was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of P. chloranthus, and the results showed a significant restrictive impact of the EOs obtained from the fresh plant herb against most of the tested microorganisms.