Unveiling the Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Potency of Palmarosa Essential Oil in the Western Himalayan Region

This study investigates the essential oil (EO) content, composition, and antibacterial activity of different plant parts of palmarosa cultivated under unexplored mid‐hill conditions of the Western Himalayas. EO was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed using GC and GC–MS, identifying geraniol (82.5%–85.0%), neryl acetate (8.4%–9.8%), cis‐β ‐terpineol (1.48%–2.06%), linalool<dehydro> (0.82%–1.6%), and caryophyllene (0.23%–0.70%) as chemical constituents, together accounting for 98.43%–99.60% of the total composition. Geraniol was most abundant in the whole plant (82.53%–88.13%), followed by leaves (80.26%–86.78%) and inflorescences (80.23%–83.77%). The EO exhibited strong antibacterial activity against both gram‐positive ( Micrococcus luteus , Bacillus subtilis , Staphylococcus aureus ) and gram‐negative ( Klebsiella pneumoniae , Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa ) strains. Inflorescence oil produced the largest inhibition zone (19.66 ± 0.47 mm, B. subtilis ) and the smallest (5.66 ± 0.47 mm, K. pneumoniae ). Minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged from 2.0% to 0.125% (v/v), with inflorescence oil showing the greatest potency (0.125% for five strains). The antibacterial activity is attributed to the synergistic action of major and minor constituents. This study addresses a knowledge gap by analyzing EO yield and composition across palmarosa plant parts and demonstrating antibacterial efficacy in the mid‐hills of the Western Himalayan region.