Fitoterapia 71 2000.

69]71

Short report

Antibacterial activity of the essential oil of

Cymbopogon densiflorus q
N.B. Takaisi-Kikuni a,U , D. Tshilandab, B. Babady b
a

Laboratoire de Microbiologie Experimentale

et Pharmaceutique, Faculte de Pharmacie, Uni ersite

de Kinshasa, B.P. 212 Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo

b
Laboratoire de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, Faculte des Sciences, Uni ersite de Kinshasa,
Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Received 22 April 1999; accepted in revised form 10 June 1999

Abstract
The essential oil of Cymbopogon densiflorus showed a wide spectrum of activity against
Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.
Keywords: Cymbopogon densiflorus; Essential oil; Antibacterial activity

Plant. Cymbopogon densiflorus Stapf., syn. A ndropogon densiflorus Steud Poaceae.,

fresh leaves and inflorescences were collected during the rain season, from October 1993 to May 1994, in Kinshasa D.R. Congo. and authenticated at the Institut
National dEtudes et de Recherches Agronomiques INERA., Faculty of Sciences
of the University of Kinshasa, where a voucher has been deposited at the herbarium.
Uses in traditional medicine. The plant is traditionally used in Congo against
various diseases such as asthma, fever, cold, epilepsy, abdominal cramps and pains,
as well as in the culinary domain and in the making of perfumes w1x.
q
U

Dedicated to Professor Dr Heinz Schilcher on the occasion of his 69th birthday.

Corresponding author.

0367-326Xr00r$ - see front matter Q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 6 7 - 3 2 6 X 9 9 . 0 0 0 9 7 - 0

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N.B. Takaisi-Kikuni et al. r Fitoterapia 71 (2000) 69]71

Previously isolated classes of constituents. No report.

Tested material. Essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation yield: about 10 ml
from 1 kg of plant material.. Main constituents GC-MS analysis . were limonene,
cymenene, p-cymene, cis- and trans-carveol, carvone, iso-piperitenone, p-mentha17., 8-dien-ol and p-mentha-2, 8-dien-1-ol, in contrast to the oils from other
Cymbopogon species which had myrcene and citral as major constituents w2x.
Studied activity. Antibacterial activity by the macrobroth dilution method using
the Mueller-Hinton broth OxoidrEngland. w3x, at oil concentrations of 250, 500
and 1000 ppm vrv. with determination of minimal inhibitory concentration MIC..
Ampicillin ServarHeidelberg, Germany. and chloramphenicol SigmarSt Louis,
USA. were used as reference antibiotics.
Used bacterial strains. Reference strains: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923,
Streptococcus agalactiae NCTC 8181, S. pyogenes strain 78 Institut Pasteur .,
Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 6057, Bacillus subtilis var. niger ATCC 9372, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 14153, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
ATCC 27853 and P. fluorescens ATCC 13525. Wild strains from patients collection
of the Robert Koch Institute .: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi H 901,
S. typhi S 32, S. paratyphi A, Klebsiella pneumoniae V 6089.
Results. Listed in Table 1.

Table 1
Susceptibility minimum inhibitory concentration . of bacteria to essential oil from Cymbopogon
densiflorus
Bacteria

Essential oil
ppm.

Ampicillin
mgrml.

Chloramphenicol
mgrml.

S. aureus
S. agalactiae
S. pneumoniae
S. pyogenes
E. faecalis
B. subtilis var. niger
E. coli
K. pneumoniae
P. mirabilis
S. paratyphi A
S. typhi H 901
S. typhi S 32
P. aeruginosa
P. fluorescens

250
500
250
250
1000
250
250
500
1000
500
250
500
) 1000
500

0.25
0.5
0.02
0.25
7.5
0.25
5.0
6.5
10.0
6.5
5.0
5.0
) 12.0
) 12.0

5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
8.0
5.0
5.0
6.0
8.0
6.0
5.0
5.0
) 12.0
) 12.0

N.B. Takaisi-Kikuni et al. r Fitoterapia 71 (2000) 69]71

71

Conclusions. The essential oil of C. densiflorus exhibited activity against most of

the tested bacterial strains, Gram-positive bacteria being more sensitive than
Gram-negative ones. MICs were found to be between 250 and 500 ppm for the
Gram-positive and between 500 and 1000 ppm for the Gram-negative bacteria. The
growth of P. mirabilis and E. faecalis was inhibited at 1000 ppm, only P. aeruginosa
being resistant up to the concentration of 1000 ppm. These results, as well as those
obtained in a previous investigation w1x, may in part justify some of the uses of
Cymbopogon densiflorus in the traditional medicine.

Acknowledgements
This study was performed in the laboratory of Prof. Dr F.J. Fehrenbach,
Department of Microbiology of the Robert Koch Institute, BerlinrGermany, to
whom the authors are grateful for providing laboratory facilities and for helpful
discussions. They would also like to thank Dr B. Bar
FB Pharmazie, Free
University Berlin. and PD Dr W. Schultze University of Hamburg. for the
GCrMS analysis and Miss G. Heins Dept. of Microbiology, Robert Koch Institute. for her skilled technical assistance. N.B. Takaisi-Kikuni received a research
fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD..

References
w1x Takaisi-Kikuni NB, Kruger
D, Gnann W, Wecke J. Microbios 1996;88:55.
w2x Onawunmi G, Yisak W, Ogunlana EO. J. Ethnopharmacology 1984;12:279.
w3x Sham DF, Washington II JA. Antibacterial susceptibility tests: dilution methods. In: Balows A,
Hausler Jr WJ, Herrmann KL, Isenberg HD, Shadomy HJ, editors. Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 5th ed. Washington DC: American Society for Microbiology, 1991:1105]1116.