Evaluation of antifungal activity of origanum vulgare and rosmarinus officinalis essential oil before and after inclusion in β-cyclodextrine

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the antifungal activity of essential oil of Origanum vulgare and Rosmarinus officinalis collected in north region of Albania, and how is it modified by microencapsulation with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD).  Methods: Chemical composition of both isolated essential oils was determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The disc diffusion method was used to screen the antifungal activities of essential oils, before and after microencapsulation, against following dermatophytes: M. gypseum, M. canis, A. cajetani, T. violaceum, T. mentagrophytes, E. floccosum,T. rubrum, T. tonsurans and phytopatogens B. cinerea and P. oryzae.  Results: The major identified compounds for Rosmarinus officinalis and Origanum vulgare essential oils, by GC/MS analyses, were respectively: 1, 8cineol, camphor, verbenone, borneol and carvacrol, thymol for O. vulgare essential oil. Maximum antifungal activity of essential oil of O. vulgare was observed against T. tonsurans, T. violaceum, T. floccosum,T. mentagrophytes. Meanwhile the essential oil of R. officinalis exhibits a moderate antifungal activity against T. violaceum. The essential oils demonstrated higher inhibition zones after microencapsulation in β-cylcodextrine.  Conclusion: From the results obtained we can conclude as follows: 1. Antifungal activity of Origanum vulgare essential oil is higher compare to the antifungal activity of Rosmarinus officinalis ones due to high content of carvacrol in Origanum vulgare essential oil. 2. Microencapsulation does not change the antifungal activity of both essential oils; this should consent to achieve the optimal antifungal activity with minimum side effects of essential oil, and improved stability upon storage due to benefits of microencapsulation in β-cyclodextrine. Moreover, after encapsulation improved activity were observed

Development and validation of a GC/FID method for identification and quantification of main components of satureja montana L. essential oil

Objective: Satureja montana L. is well-known for its essential oil contents and dermatological benefits. Main components of its essential oil are borneol, carvacrol, thymol, γ-terpinen, p-cymen. Our objective is to develop a Gas/Fid analytical method for quantification and identification of main components of Satureja montana L. essential oil. Methods: Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation of Satureja montana L. using Clevenger apparatus. Analyses of essential oil and validation method were developed by GC/FID apparatus tip Varian 3800. Results: The validation process; linearity, optimization of GC/FID parameters of method proposed, precision and accuracy results were statistically significant. Conclusion: The method proposed were found appropriate for GC/FID analyses of Satureja montana L

ENCAPSULATION OF SATUREJA MONTANA ESSENTIAL OIL IN B-CYCLODEXTRINE

Essential oils are lipid soluble well-known ingredient often applied to the skin for their important properties that ranges from antimicrobial, to antinflammatory and skin whitening. Current applications of these volatile compounds turn out to be complicated because of chemical and physical properties. Therefore, microencapsulation could be a solution to problems of stability, evaporation and controlled release. For these reasons, direct contact with skin of high concentrations, should be avoided in favour of a slow release of lower concentrations. We investigated their inclusion in cyclodextrine complexes, in order to achieve better stability in emulsions and better compatibility with skin application. The aim of this study is to see the optimal ratio of mixture between Satureja Montana essential oils and β-cyclodextrin and to study if antibacterial and animycotic properties are still alive after their complexio

NOVEL NUTRACEUTICALS FROM ETNOPHARMACY: NIGELLA SATIVA SEEDS ESSENTIAL OILS AGAINST RECURRENT BLADDER INFECTIONS

Seeds of Nigella sativa L.(Ranunculaceae), known commonly as “black cumin” have been employed for thousands years in traditional use as a spice and food preservative. Recently, many biological activities of Nigella sativa L. seeds have been reported, including: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antimicrobial and antifungal ones. Several effects have been attributed to active principles of Nigella sativa L. which includes thymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, dithymoquinone, thymol, carvacrol, nigellicine, nigellimine-x-oxide, nigellidine and alpha-hedrin. Nigella sativa L. seed extract inhibits fungal strains. In the present study we started a systemathic evaluation on fungi and pathogenic bacteria of ether and methanolic extracts of oils from Nigella Sativa seeds. The oils were found to have important antifungal and antibacterial activities as compared to tetracycline, cefuroxime and ciprofloxacin positive controls. The ether extracts showed the stonger activity. These interesting findings has prompted us to propose Nigella sativa seeds and their extracts as possible treantment in the prevention of recurrent infection (i.e. bladder, gut and kidney) in which othe natural remedies has already shown interesting results, especially in synergic association. Therefore, a novel food supplement, based on Nigella sativa, Cranberry and Mannose, (NiCraMa) is proposed for the treatment of urinary and digestive tracts recurrent infection

Synthesis and biological evaluation of carvacrol-based derivatives as dual inhibitors of H. Pylori strains and ags cell proliferation

This study reports on the synthesis, structural assessment, microbiological screening against several strains of H. pylori and antiproliferative activity against human gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells of a large series of carvacrol-based compounds. Structural analyses consisted of elemental analysis,1 H/13 C/19 F NMR spectra and crystallographic studies. The structure-activity relationships evidenced that among ether derivatives the substitution with specific electron-withdrawing groups (CF3 and NO2) especially in the para position of the benzyl ring led to an improvement of the antimicrobial activity, whereas electron-donating groups on the benzyl ring and ethereal alkyl chains were not tolerated with respect to the parent compound (MIC/MBC = 64/64 µg/mL). Ester derivatives (coumarin-carvacrol hybrids) displayed a slight enhancement of the inhibitory activity up to MIC values of 8–16 µg/mL. The most interesting compounds exhibiting the lowest MIC/MBC activity against H. pylori (among others, compounds 16 and 39 endowed with MIC/MBC values ranging between 2/2 to 32/32 µg/mL against all the evaluated strains) were also assayed for their ability to reduce AGS cell growth with respect to 5-Fluorouracil. Some derivatives can be regarded as new lead compounds able to reduce H. pylori growth and to counteract the proliferation of AGS cells, both contributing to the occurrence of gastric cancer