Antibacterial and antifungal activities of Otanthus maritimus (L.) Hoffmanns. & Link essential oil from Sicily.

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the flowers of Otanthus maritimus L., a perennial plant growing wild in maritime sands in the Mediterranean region, was investigated by GC and GC-MS analyses. Totally 66 were identified. The oil was dominated by the high content of monoterpene compounds, especially oxygenated monoterpenes which accounted for 73.1%. The most abundant components were yomogi alcohol (20.8%), camphor (15.8%), artemisyl acetate (15.3%) and artemisia alcohol (13.7%). The oil was tested against two Gram (+) and six Gram (-) bacterial strains, both American Type Culture Collection standard strains and clinically isolated (CI), one potentially pathogenic yeast (Candida albicans CI) and two filamentous phytopathogenic fungi (Botrytis cinerea and Rhizoctonia solani). The results show that the oil from O. maritimus exerts strong antibacterial and antifungal activities.