Antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of the essential oils of mosses (Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) Schimp. and Leucodon sciuroides (Hedw.) Schw¨agr.) growing in Turkey

In the present work, the volatiles of mosses [Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) Schimp. (Hylocomiaceae) and Leucodon sciuroides (Hedw.) Schw¨agr. (Leucodontaceae)] have been investigated by GC-FID and GC/MS. Fifty-eight compounds in the oil of H. splendens, representing 75.4%, and 41 compounds in the oil of L. sciuroides, representing 87.6%, were identified. The major components were found to be β -pinene (11.6%) and α-pinene (8.9%) in the oil of H. splendens, and nonanal (26.8%) and heptanal (13.7%) in the oil of L. sciuroides. The essential oil of H. splendens was rich in monoterpenes (30.8%), and aldehydes (49.9%) were the major constituents in the oil of L. sciuroides. The antimicrobial activities of the isolated essential oils of the mosses were also investigated. The essential oil of H. splendens showed antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and the fungus Candida albicans with minimum inhibition concentrations in the range of 428–857 μg/mL, respectively. The oil of L. sciuroides only showed activity against fungus C. albicans (711 μg/mL).