Chemical Investigation and Antimicrobial Activity of Francoeuria crispa (Forssk) Grown Wild In Egypt

Survey and evaluation of wild plants that grow in Egyptian desert are of the priorities of the current study, so this present survey was carried out to examine the composition and antimicrobial activity of Francoeuria crispa (Forssk) plant growing wild in eastern Egyptian desert. Francoeuria crispa is an annual herb or sometimes a perennial subshrub producing small bright yellow flowers. The plant materials were collected from the plants growing on eastern desert approximately 1200 km out of Cairo. The chemical composition of the volatile oil, isolated by hydrodistillation of the herb, was investigated by GC and GC-MS. The percentage of essential oil of F. crispa (Forssk.), obtained in 0.23% v/w on a dry weight basis, consisted approximately of piperitone 45.0 %. Other oxygenated monoterpene compounds were found; the principal members were, cis-sabinene hydrate, (0.35%) linalool (0.85%) α-terpineol (1.08%), neral (0.80%)), linalyl acetate (0.47%) and, anethole trans (1.0%). Oxygenated monoterpene (OMG) group gave the highest percentage (50.85%) against 6.69, 4.8 and 27.77% for monoterpene hydrocarbon group (MHG), sesquterpenes hydrocarbon group (SHG) and oxygenated sesquterpenes group (OSG) respectively. The results proved that, F. crispa is rich in carbohydrates or glycoside, sterols and flavonoids. Tannins and coumarins are found in moderate amounts, while, alkaloids, saponins and anthraquinones are absent. The antimicrobial activities of the water and alcohol extracts of F. crispa herb were carried out using the inverted Petri plate method. The water and alcohol extraction showed prominent antimicrobial activities against fungi, gram positive and gram negative bacteria at a very low concentration (10 ul).