The composition of essential oil isolated from Satureja thymbra, growing wild in Libya, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The essential oil was characterized by γ-terpinene (39.23%), thymol (25.16%), p-cymene (7.17%) and carvacrol (4.18%) as the major constituents. Antioxidant activity was analyzed using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging method. It possessed strong antioxidant activity (IC50 = 0.0967 mg/mL). The essential oil was also screened for its antimicrobial activity against eight bacterial and eight fungal species, showing excellent antimicrobial activity against the microorganisms used, in particular against the fungi. The oil of S. thymbra showed bacteriostatic activity at 0.001-0.1 mg/mL and was bactericidal at 0.002-0.2 mg/mL; fungistatic effects at 0.001-0.025 mg/mL and fungicidal effects at 0.001-0.1 mg/mL. The main constituents thymol, carvacrol and γ-terpinene also showed strong antimicrobial activity. The commercial fungicide bifonazole showed much lower antifungal activity than the tested oil.
The present study describes the total phenolic content, concentrations of flavonoids and in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of methanol extracts from Seseli pallasii Besser, S. libanotis (L.) Koch ssp. libanotis and S. libanotis (L.) Koch ssp. intermedium (Rupr.) P. W. Ball, growing wild in Serbia. The total phenolic content in the extracts was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and their amounts ranged between 84.04 to 87.52 mg GA (gallic acid)/g. The concentrations of flavonoids in the extracts varied from 4.75 to 19.37 mg Qu (quercetin)/g. Antioxidant activity was analyzed using DPPH reagent. Antioxidant activity ranged from 0.46 to 4.63 IC50 (mg/ml) and from 1.98 to 2.19 mg VitC (vitamin C)/g when tested with the DPPH and ABTS reagents, respectively, using BHA and VitC as controls. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was investigated using a micro-well dilution assay for the most common human gastrointestinal pathogenic bacterial strains: Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, Salmonella enteritidis ATCC 13076, Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC15313, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Candida albicans ATCC 10231. This finding suggests that Seseli species may be considered as a natural source of antioxidants and antimicrobial agents.
This is the first report that EO of Th. capitatus could protect against colonization of pathogens to colon epithelium. Thymus capitatus from Libya should be recognized as possible new source of natural antioxidants, antimicrobials as well as possible source of new chemotherapeutics.
The composition of essential oil isolated from Salvia fruticosa, wild growing in Libya, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Forty-five compounds could be identified. The essential oil contained 1,8-cineole (49.34%), camphor (7.53%), β-pinene (7.38%), myrcene (7.38%), α-pinene (5.15%), β-caryophyllene (4.13%) and α-terpineol (3.25). Antioxidant activity was analyzed using the DPP H free radical scavenging method and low antioxidant activity was found (IC50 = 15.53 mg/ml). The oil was also screened for its antimicrobial activity against eight bacteria (four Gram-negative and four Gram-positive) and eight fungi. The essential oil of S. fruticosa showed minimal inhibitory activity (MIC) at 0.125-1.5 mg/ml and bactericidal (MBC) at 0.5-2.0 mg/ml. In addition, it exhibited fungistatic (MIC) at 0.125-1.0 mg/ml and fungicidal effect (MFC) at 0.125-1.5 mg/ml. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 173029 and br. 173032
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