Constituents and Bacteriostatic Activity of Volatile Matter From Four Flower Plant Species

This study was conducted to identify major constituents in the volatile matter from four indoor flowering plants and to evaluate them for bacteriostatic activity of the most abundant compounds. Volatile matter was collected by a dynamic collection method from Gardenia jasminoides, Ceropegia woodii, Pilea nummulariifolli, and Rhoeo purpurea. GC-MS analyses identified that the most abundant terpene compounds were á-pinene and ocimene (14.19% of total volatile matter) in G. jasminoides, á-pinene, camphene, ocimene and eucalyptole (43.91% of total volatile matter) in C. woodii, á-pinene and camphene (45.52% of total volatile matter) in P. nummulariifollia, and á-pinene, camphene and eucalyptole (46.42% of total volatile matter) in R. purpurea. These four terpene monomers have demonstrated strong bacteriostatic activity against six bacterial cultures. The most effective was á-pinene (5μl/ml) which had 100% bacteriostatic rate on all the bacterial cultures. The least effective (34% bacteriostatic rate) was eucalyptole (10μl/ml) against Saprophytic staphylococcus.