Studies on GC/MS Spectroscopic Analysis of some Bioactive Antimicrobial Compounds from Cinnamomum zeylanicum

Background: infectious diarrhoea is an emergent problem in both developing and developedcountries for high rates of mortality in infants. in recent years, drug resistance to microbial pathogenshas been commonly reported from all over the world. medicinal plants represent a rich source ofantimicrobial agents. plants are used medicinally in different countries especially in india and are asource of many potent and powerful drugs. this study was aimed to explore the bioactive antimicrobialcompounds present in cinnamon zeylanicum, which is used as a spice in indian foods.objective: the aim of this study was to carry out gas chromatography and mass spectroscopystudies and to determine the antimicrobial activity of cinnamon zeylanicum extract against somecommon microbial pathogens isolated from diarrhoeal patients.methods: the extract was prepared by the method of maceration using methanol as extractionsolvent. the antimicrobial activity was performed by disc diffusion method at the concentration200, 100, 50, 25 and 10 mg/ml against e.coli, salmonella typhi, salmonella typhimurium, shigelladysenterae, shigella flexneri, pseudomonas aeruginosa and klebsiella pneumonia and the fungicandida albicans, candida tropicalis, candida krusei which are isolated from the paediatricdiarrhoeal samples. gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy studies were performed toidentify the bioactive compounds.results: the methanol extract was found very sensitive against all the isolated organisms. thepreliminary phytochemical screening shows the presence of carbohydrate, glycosides, phenoliccompounds, tannins, terpenes and proteins. the gc/ms study on the active principles shows thepresence of 38 components.conclusion: this study shows that the cinnamon zeylanicum extract exhibit high antifungalactivity as compared with antibacterial activity. the most identified compound by gc/ms tohave antimicrobial property were monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, aromatic aldehydes and ketones.cinnamaldehyde was the major compound responsible for the antimicrobial activity.