Aboriginal people of Australia possess a rich knowledge on the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of sores, wounds, and skin infections, ailments which impose a high global disease burden and require effective treatments. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities and phytochemical contents of extracts, obtained from eight medicinal plants used by Aboriginal people of New South Wales, Australia, for the treatment of skin related ailments, were assessed to add value to and provide an evidence‐base for their traditional uses. Extracts of Acacia implexa, Acacia falcata, Cassytha glabella, Eucalyptus haemastoma, Smilax glyciphylla, Sterculia quadrifida, and Syncarpia glomulifera were evaluated. All extracts except that of S. quadrifida showed activity against sensitive and multidrug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 7.81 to 1000 μg/mL. The sap of E. haemastoma and bark of A. implexa possessed high total phenolic contents (TPC) and strong DPPH radical scavenging abilities. A positive correlation was observed between TPC and free radical scavenging ability. GC‐MS analysis of the n‐hexane extract of S. glomulifera identified known antimicrobial compounds. Together, these results support the traditional uses of the examined plants for the treatment of skin related ailments and infections by Aboriginal people of New South Wales, Australia.

The essential oil composition of the aerial parts of four populations of Eryngium campestre has been analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Samples growing in different types of soil were gathered at the same phenological state. A total of 84 compounds have been identified from the different samples under analysis. Qualitative and quantitative differences were found between inflorescences (I) and stems and leaves (SL) of the different populations. The main constituents of the inflorescences were identified as germacrene D (30.3-40.3%), β-curcumene (0.7-22.2%), myrcene (3.0-21.7%) and ( E)-β-farnesene (0.1-19.0%). The type of soil seemed to exert an influence on the chemical composition of the oils of this species. Whereas high concentrations of myrcene were found in the populations growing in acid soil, its concentration was significantly lower in the alkaline populations. β-Curcumene concentration was higher in the populations growing in alkaline soil and was practically absent from the acid soil population. Regarding the stems and leaves, only germacrene D (31.1-42.4%) and myrcene (0.5-23.15) were considered as main constituents, their composition not being affected by the type of soil. However, terpenoid distribution was clearly influenced by the soil, with the population growing in acid soil containing a greater amount of monoterpenes than that of the population growing in alkaline soil. A more exhaustive study needs to be carried out in order to confirm if the biosynthesis of these compounds could be influenced by the availability of Ca²⁺ in the soil.

The leaf oils of the Australian species of Neolitsea have been investigated. All species gave oils that were sesquiterpenoid in nature. Neolitsea australiensis produced an oil in which the major components were bicyclogermacrene (12–16%) and guaiol (13–17%). Many other sesquiterpenes were present in amounts of less than 5%. N. brassii gave a very similar oil in which the major components were bicyclogermacrene (11–15%), cubenol (6–10%) and guaiol (7–10%). The possibility that N. australiensis and N. brassii are conspecific is discussed. N. dealbata, a species that has a wide north-south distribution, gave different oils from the northern and southern populations. From the northern populations, the major components were germacrone (approximately 50%), bicyclogermacrene (12–35%) and spathulenol (4–38%), with one population replacing the majority of germacrone by furanogermenone (43%). From the southern populations the major components were β-eudesmol (3–30%) and spathulenol (5–30%). Germacrone was not detected in the southern populations. The oil yields for all species were 0.2–0.6%, based on fresh weight.