CARACTERIZACIóN QUíMICA Y ACTIVIDAD ANTIMICROBIANA DEL ACEITE ESENCIAL DE Piper marginatum Jacq.

the use of natural antimicrobials is an alternative that is in development and exploitation and, among them, the essential oils have a great potential. the aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of essential oil of piper marginatum jacq. and evaluate its antibacterial and antifungal activities against microorganisms of importance in the agricultural sphere. the essential oil of p. marginatum was obtained by hydrodistillation using an apparatus type clevenger. its yield was determined and its chemical composition was investigated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (gc/ms). the antibacterial activity was evaluated by the agar diffusion method against xanthomonas albilineans (ashby) dawson, xanthomonas campestris pv campestris (pammel) dawson, pseudomonas solanacearum smith, pseudomonas celebensis g？umann, pseudomonas syzygii roberts et al. and pseudomonas fluorescens migula. the antifungal effect of the oil was determined on alternaria solani sor. the essential oil (2,18% v/p) is constituted mainly of oxygenated compounds with isosafrole and nothosmyrnol as the major components. the oil showed a bactericidal effect against x. albilineans and x. campestris pv campestris and a fungistatic effect against a. solani. there are great opportunities for the development of the essential oil of p. marginatum as an antimicrobial agent, considering its high yield and activity against the microorganisms studied.