Separation and identification of antibacterial chamomile components

Separation and identification of antibacterial chamomile components 2 Abstract Components of 50% ethanolic chamomile (Matricaria recutica L.) flower extract, previously found antibacterial in a TLC-bioautographic study, were separated and isolated by the use of on-line OPLC, which consisted of an OPLC 50 BS system, an on-line coupled flow-through UV detector, and a manual fraction collector. The collected peaks were investigated by GC-MS analysis and by TLC re-chromatography with subsequent visualization, performed after use of the vanillin-sulphuric acid reagent, or under UV illumination, or applying bioautographic detection. The main compounds of the collected 11 fractions were identified by GC-MS. The results showed that the antibacterial effect of 50% ethanolic extract of chamomile is ascribable to cis-, trans-spiroethers, and the coumarins like herniarin and umbelliferone. Separation and identification of antibacterial chamomile components 3 INTRODUCTION There is an increased demand to discover new, effective, easy-to-obtain natural medicinal substances. Chamomile (Matricaria recutica L.) is a very familiar and widely used herb in traditional folk medicine. The flower is a common ingredient of herbal teas because it contains substances which have anti-inflammatory, sedative, analgesic, anti-spasmodic, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties [1-4]. The beneficial effects are related to different classes of therapeutically interesting ingredients such as essential oil components, flavonoids, and coumarin derivatives [1, 5, and 6]. The chamomile essential oils, which are of the greatest importance among the bioactive constituents [7], consist of many active compounds such as (-)-alpha-bisabolol, chamazulene (artefact of matricine by steam distillation), (-)-alpha-bisabolol oxide A and B, (-)-alpha-bisabolone oxide A, spiroethers (cis-and trans-en-yn-dicycloether), and sesquiterpenes [8]. The chamomile volatile oils showed antimicrobial activity against certain species of bacteria, fungi and viruses in vitro [9], however, Gram-positive bacteria were found more susceptible than Gram-negative ones [10]. The chamomile oils were effective e.g. against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, and Streptococcus salivarius bacteria as well as against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, A. ochraceus, A. flavus, A. parasiticus, Fusarium culmorum and F. moniliforme fungi [9-12]. It has been reported that generally the aqueous chamomile extracts were more effective against moulds and yeast, while the alcoholic ones inhibited more the bacteria [13]. The inhibiting activity of hydro-alcoholic extract of chamomile was demonstrated against the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus mutans, group B Streptococcus and Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus megatherium and Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae [14]. Moreover, olive oil extract of chamomile has been proved active against Helicobacter pylori [15]. Coumarin-related compounds, ingredients in hydro-alcoholic …