The essential oil extracted from the dried flower buds of clove, Eugenia caryophyllata L. Merr. & Perry (Myrtaceae), is used as a topical application to relieve pain and to promote healing and also finds use in the fragrance and flavouring industries. The main constituents of the essential oil are phenylpropanoids such as carvacrol, thymol, eugenol and cinnamaldehyde. The biological activity of Eugenia caryophyllata has been investigated on several microorganisms and parasites, including pathogenic bacteria, Herpes simplex and hepatitis C viruses. In addition to its antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal and antiviral activity, clove essential oil possesses antiinflammatory, cytotoxic, insect repellent and anaesthetic properties. This short review addresses the chemical composition and biological effects of clove essential oil, and includes new results from GC/MS analysis and a study of its antimicrobial activity against a large number of multi-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated from dialysis biomaterials.

The composition of the essential oils and methanolic extracts of two cultivated mint species (M. longifolia and M. pulegium), as well as the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extract of Mentha longifolia and Mentha pulegium were compared. GC-MS analysis of the essential oil identified 41 compounds constituting 96.66 and 96.13% of the total oil from M. longifolia and M. pulegium, respectively. The later oils were rich on pulegone (47.15 and 61.11%, respectively). Moreover, 1,8 cineole (11.54%), menthone (10.7%), a-pinene (3.57%), a-terpineol (3.17%) and d-cadinene (3.53%) were only present in M. longifolia oil, while isomenthone (17.02%), and piperitone (2.63%), were characteristic of M. pulegium oil. Shoot extract of the two species showed significantly different contents in total polyphenols (89.1 and 37.41 mg GAE/g DW), flavonoids (63.93 and 33.83 mg CE/g DW) and tannins (1.47 and 3.07 mg CE/g DW), respectively in M. longifolia and M. pulegium. The essential oils showed strong antimicrobial activity against all 16 microorganisms tested, whereas the methanol extracts were inactive. Moreover, the essential oils showed higher antioxidant activity than the methanolic extracts against the DPPH and superoxide radical scavenging. In fact, antioxidant activities of the oils were the same for both M. longifolia and M. pulegium against DPPH (IC 50 = 9 and 10 lg/ml, respectively) and 2-fold and 4-fold higher than shoot extracts (IC 50 = 20 and 48 lg/ml, respectively). Moreover, both oils showed the same antioxidative abilities as compared to the positive control (butylated hydroxytoluene). In the same way, the capacity to inhibit superoxide anion was very significant for the two oils (0.1 lg/ml for M. longifolia and 0.11 lg/ml for M. pulegium).

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Ecballium elaterium is a perennial herb with multiple medicinal properties. It was widely used in folk medicine as cathartic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents. The present study was devoted to investigate the effect of diethyl ether, acetone, and methanol solvent on the extraction, phytochemicals profiles, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Ecballium elaterium seeds and peels fruits. The total phenolic, flavonoid, flavonol, condensed tannins and carotenoids contents were estimated. Maximum phenolic (107 ± 4 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid (18 ± 0 mg QE/g) contents were also found in the methanol peels fruits extract. Results showed that methanol peels fruits extract have the highest antioxidant activity with IC 50 values of 1.2 ± 0.1 and 1 ± 0 mg/mL for DPPH and ABTS, respectively, and EC 50 value of 1040 ± 5 mg/mL for reducing power assays. Acetone and diethyl ether peels fruits extracts showed the best antibacterial agents especially against Micrococcus luteus, however no antifungal activity was observed. Spectral data of FT-IR analysis of Ecballium elaterium seeds and peels fruits extracts revealed the presence of functional groups such as ─DH, C─H, C─D and C=D. Due to their high antioxidant and antibacterial activities, E. elaterium seeds and peels fruits extracts have promising potential as future natural antioxidant and antibacterial agents in food industry.Keywords: Ecballium elaterium; solvent effects; phytochemical contents; antioxidant and antimicrobial properties; FT-IR analysis.Practical Application: Ecballium elaterium seeds and peels fruits can be potentially used as natural antioxidant and antibacterial inhibitor.

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Many essential oils are known to possess an antioxidant activity and antifungal properties and therefore they potentially act as antimycotic agents. Essential oil of clove (Eugenia caryophyllata) was isolated by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The antioxidant effect of the tested oil was evaluated by measuring its 2,2-diphenyl-l-1-picrylhydrazil radical scavenging ability and the antiradical dose required to cause a 50% inhibition (IC50) was recorded. The antifungal activity of essential oils was evaluated against 53 human pathogenic yeasts using a disc paper diffusion method. Our results show that the major components present in the clove bund oil were eugenol (88.6%), eugenyl acetate (5.6%), beta-caryophyllene (1.4%) and 2-heptanone (0.9%). The tested essential oil exhibited a very strong radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 0.2 microg ml-1) when compared with the synthetic antioxidant (tert-butylated hydroxytoluene, IC50 = 11.5 microg ml-1). On the other hand, this species displayed an important antifungal effect against the tested strains. It is clear that clove oil shows powerful antifungal activity; and it can be used as an easily accessible source of natural antioxidants and in pharmaceutical applications.

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We report in this work, and for the first time, the potent antifungal activities of Salvadora persica and Juglans regia L. on different Candida species. Methanol, ethyl acetate, and diluted acetone extracts of S. persica (fresh and dry plant) and J. regia L. were screened for in vitro activity against some Candida species. These plants were selected due to their traditional use for the treatment of oral infections. Plant preparations were screened for antifungal activity using a standard agar disc diffusion assay. Following study of the antifungal activity of plant extracts, their minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) values were determined using broth microdilution assay. Among S. persica and J. regia L. extracts, ethyl acetate J. regia L. extract had potent antifungal activity against all Candida strains. The MIC values of the J. regia L. against Candida strains ranged from 0.006 to 0.195 mg/ml. Two C. albicans strains showed a high MIC value (3.125 mg/ml). These results indicate that extracts can contain compounds with therapeutic potential against Candida strains and, hence, their possible use as therapeutic agents.