Essential Oils from the Leaves of Fokienia hodginsii (Dunn) A. Henry & H. H. Thomas and Amentotaxus argotaenia (Hance) Pilg. and Their Antimicrobial Activity

Abstract Essential oils from the leaves of Fokienia hodginsii (Dunn) A. Henry & H. H. Thomas and Amentotaxus argotaenia (Hance) Pilg. from Vietnam were obtained by hydrodisitllation and the chemical components determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Also the microdilution broth assay was used to test the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil. The yield of the essential oil was 0.22% (v/w). The major components of F. hodginsii were α-pinene (73.2%), limonene (10.3%), myrcene (4.1%) and β-pinene (2.6%). Amentotaxus argotaenia feature essential oil with α-pinene (20.4%), δ-cadinene (7.8%) and β-selinene (7.6%) as main compounds. The leaf essential oil of F. hodginsii displayed potent antimicrobial activity towards the Gram-positive microorganisms of Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 32.0 μg/mL and 64.0 μg/mL, respectively. The essential oil of A. argotaenia showed activity against E. faecalis ATCC 29212, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 with MIC value of 64.0 μg/mL; as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 (MIC, 32.0 μg/mL). Additionally, the essential oil of A. argotaenia exhibited the most anti-candidal action towards Candida albicans ATCC 10231 with MIC value of 32.0 μg/mL. The chemical constituents and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of F. hodginsii were being reported for the first time.