Chemical Constituents and Antimicrobial Activity of Helichrysum stoechas

Chemical constituents and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils and crude ethanol extract from apical part of Helichrysum stoechas were investigated. The chromatographic and spectrophotometric analysis revealed that the major components of essential oil were alpha-pinene (59%), limonen (16.7%), alpha-bisabolol (9.6%) and beta-carophyllene (4%). The major components of ethanolic extract were 3 isomers of caffeoylquinic acid, 2 isomeric dicaffeoylquinic acids, a pigenin glucosides, quercetin and kaempferol. Both essential oils and ethanolic extracts had significant antimicrobial activity on Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis and Klebsiella pneumonae in addition to some pathogenic fungi as Candida albicans.