20 research outputs found
Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from the medicinal plant Mentha cervina L. grown in Portugal
Mentha cervina is a medicinal plant traditionally
used in Portugal in folk medicine, in different gastric
disorders and inflammations of the respiratory tract. In
order to validate those traditional uses, M. cervina essential
oils (EOs) were characterized by GC and GCâMS and their
antimicrobial activity was tested against 23 bacterial strains
(including multiresistant strains). The EOs were dominated
by the monoterpenes pulegone (52â75%), isomenthone
(8â24%), limonene (4â6%), and menthone (1â2%). The
antibacterial activity of these EOs was compared to that of
the main components standards. The most effective antibacterial
activity was expressed by the EOs against the
Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter
baumanni, with MIC values of 1 mg/ml. The EOs complex mixtures were more active than the individual
aromatic components supporting the hypothesis that the
EOs antibacterial activity is a function of the synergistic
effect of their different aromatic components. These results
show the potential role of M. cervina EOs as antibacterial
agents and validate the traditional use of this plant
Antibacterial and antioxidative characterisation of essential oils from Mentha piperita and Mentha spicata grown in Iran
The present work evaluated the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oils of
Mentha piperita
and
Mentha spicata
. Survival and growth of
Bacillus cereus, E. coli
and
S. aureus
were studied. Twenty-six and fifteen compounds were identified in the essential oils of
Mentha piperita
and
Mentha spicata
, respectively.
Mentha piperita
contained major compounds of α-terpinene (19.7%), isomenthone (10.3%), trans carveol (14.5%), pipertitinone oxide (19.3%) and ÎČ-caryophyllene (7.6%). The major compounds of
Mentha spicata
were limonene (48%), menthol (4.7%), piperitone (20.27%) and caryophyllene (7.9%). The essential oils have good or excellent antimicrobial activities against all microorganisms tested. Complete death time on exposure to
Mentha piperita
L. and
Mentha spicata
L. oils were (90, 15 and 10 min) and (45, 30 and 15 min) for
B. cereus, E. coli
and
S. aureus
, respectively. Two-gram positive microorganisms,
B. cereus
and
S. aureus
, showed the same pattern of zone/oil concentration ratios, while
E. coli
responded differently. The essential oils notably reduced the concentration of DPPH free radical and bleached ÎČ-carotene. The performance of the
M. piperita
oil was better than that of
Mentha spicata
. Application of these oils in food industries is recommended