CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ESSENTIAL OIL OF EGYPTIAN OCIMUM BASILICUM L

This study aimed to determine the chemical composition and antimicrobial activit y of the volatile oil of Egyptian Ocimum Basilicu m L. Forty two volatile compounds were identified by using gas chromatography - mass spectroscopy (GC - MS). The abundant chemical Constituents were Linalool (33.9%) , Eugenol (8.31%) and 2, 6 - Dimethyl - 6 - (4 - methyl - 3 - pentenyl) - bicyclo[3.1.1] hept - 2 - ene (8.04%) . Antimi crobial activity w ere studied at two di f f erent concentrations of oil extract (100 μL) and (200 μL) against three bacterial strains Escherichia c oli , Staphylococcus a ureous and Bacillus c ereus , and t hree fungal strains , Aspergillus n iger, Candida a lbicans and Saccharomyces c erevisial . The volatile oil showed good inhibitory effect for a ll bacterial strains especially E. c oli and weak activity against fungal species . Keywords : Ocimum Basilicum , V olatile oil , Chemical composition, GC - MS, A nti microbial activi ty