Chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from leaves of three Melaleuca species of Pakistani flora

Abstract This study presents essential oil composition of three Melaleuca species namely, Melaleuca bracteata F. Muell , Melaleuca fulgens R. Br. subsp. steedmanii and Melaleuca leucadendron (L.) L. collected from different regions of Pakistan. The chemical composition of essential oils was analyzed by GC-FID and GC–MS. Eugenol methyl ether was identified as a principal component in M. bracteata (82.3%) , M. fulgens (87.8%) and M. leucadendron (95.4%) oils. In vitro antibacterial studies were done by agar well diffusion and microdilution method and the tested essential oils exhibited bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects against the tested foodborne pathogens at 4–8 µg/ml. Time kill assay showed significant bactericidal effect of oils for four weeks. The antioxidant potential was assessed by free radical scavenging activity and reducing power assay. The oils showed strong antioxidant activity with approximately 89.0–89.5% inhibition of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical and ferric reducing power in the range of 1.94 ± 0.007–2.04 ± 0.04% at 100 µg/ml.