Abstract

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF VOLATILE OIL OF THE SEEDS OF CUMINUM CYMINUM L.

Nisha Chaudhary, Shahnaz Sultana Husain, Mohammed Ali*

ABSTRACT

Cuminum cyminum L. (Family: Apiaceae) is a small annual herb with slender, angular branched stem. Its fruits are used to treat dyspepsia, insomnia, cold, fever, gastro- intestinal, gynecological and respiratory disorders, toothache, diabetes, hypertension and epilepsy. Analysis of the fruit volatile oil (1.90%) showed the presence mainly of trans-dihydrocarvone (31.11%), γ-terpinene (23.22%), p-cymene (15.8%), α-phellandrene (12.01%) and p-menth-2-en-7-ol (3.48%) and cuminlaldehyde constituted only 0.58% of the volatile oil. The volatile oil was active against the microorganisms Staphylococcus epidermidis strain, S. aureus, S. haemolyticus, Propionibacterium acnes, Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae strain, Bacillus cereus strain, Clostridium tetani strain, C. difficile, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Vibrio cholerae, Aeromonas hpydrophila, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae and the fungus Asperigillus niger, Saccharomyces cerevisae and Colletrotrichum gloeosporioides. The microbial activity decreased with methanolic and further with hydroalcoholic and aqueous extracts of the fruits. These results suggest the potential use of the cumin essential oil for the control of bacterial diseases.

Keywords: Cuminum cyminum, seeds, volatile oil, chemical constituents, antimicrobial activity.