Abstract

The chemical composition of essential oil obtained from air-dried leaves of Lantana camara L. by hydrodistillation was analyzed by GC and GC-MS.  A total of thirty-two compounds representing 74.8% of the oil were identified. The main constituents were 1,8-cineol (15.8%), sabinene (14.7%) and β-caryophylene (8.9%). The essential oil was tested for antibacterial activity against 6 strains, using disc diffusion method, and for cytotoxicity using brine-shrimp lethality assay. The oil showed moderate activity against Candida albican, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus aureus. These activities support its potential use as a remedy for bacterial infectious diseases.  The essential oil with LC50 value of 0.01 was found to be highly toxic.

Key words: Lantana camara L, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, essential oil, 1,8-cineol, sabinene.