Composition of the essential oil of Bidens tripartita L. roots and its antibacterial and antifungal activities.

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the roots of Bidens tripartita L. by hydrodistillation was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In total, 106 compounds were identified (97.1% of the total oil). The main components of the oil were α-pinene (15.0%), β-bisabolene (9.3%), p-cymene (6.0%), hexanal (5.7%), linalool (4.6%), p-cymene-9-ol (3.4%), β-elemene (2.6%), 2-pentylfuran (2.2%), and silphiperfol-6-ene (2.1%). The antibacterial and antifungal properties of the essential oil were evaluated against eight Gram-positive and 11 Gram-negative bacterial species and 10 fungal strains. The oil exhibited a strong antifungal activity.