Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the flower essential oil of Halimodendron halodendron

The essential oil obtained by hydro-distillation from the flowers of Halimondendron halodendron (Leguminosae) was analyzed for its chemical composition by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Undecane (16.4%), dodecane (15.3%), tridecane (12.5%), decane (8.2%), 6,10,14-trimethyl-pentadecan-2-one (6.3%), methyl palmitate (6.0%), methyl linolenate (4.1%) and ethylcyclohexane (4.1%) were the major compounds of the thirty-five identified components of the oil. The essential oil was shown to have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity with MIC values ranging from 100 to 250 microg/mL, and IC50 values from 40.4 to 193.8 microg/mL. The oil also showed strong antioxidant activity, with an especially high metal chelating capacity of ferrous ions with an IC50 value of 7.4 microg/mL on ferrozine-Fe2+ complex formation.