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Bergamot essential oil (BEO) is endowed with consistent and reproducible antinociceptive and anti-allodynic properties when administered via an inhalation route. However, the effects of its main constituents and of its decolored (DEC) and deterpenated (DET) fractions, which are enriched in limonene or in linalool and linalyl acetate, respectively, on spontaneous motor activity related to anxiety and on formalin-induced licking/biting biphasic behavior have never been investigated before. Therefore, the present research aims to characterize the role of BEO components on an experimental pain model that is relevant to clinical translation. Under our present experimental conditions, a paper filter disc soaked with different volumes of the phytocomplex and of its fractions that was applied at the edge of the observation chamber allowed the effects on the spontaneous motor activity and on the formalin-induced nocifensive response in ddY-strain mice to be studied. The present research demonstrated the effects of the DEC fraction of BEO on motor activity and on formalin-induced licking/biting behavior for the first time, proving that limonene is implicated in reduced motor activity and that it is important for the analgesic effect.

Natural compounds have historically had a wide application in nutrition. Recently, a fundamental role has been identified for essential oils extracted from aromatic plants for their nutritional, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties, and as food preservatives. In the present study, essential oils (EOs) from ten aromatic plants grown in Calabria (Italy), used routinely to impart aroma and taste to food, were evaluated for their antibacterial activity. This activity was investigated against Escherichia coli strain JM109, and its derived antibiotic-resistant cells selected by growing the strain at low concentrations of ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin by measuring the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Although all the essential oils showed bactericidal activity, those from Clinopodium nepeta, Origanum vulgare, and Foeniculum vulgare displayed the greatest inhibitory effects on the bacterial growth of all cell lines. It is plausible that the antibacterial activity is mediated by epigenetic modifications since the tested essential oils induce methylation both at adenine and cytosine residues in the genomes of most cell lines. This study contributes to a further characterization of the properties of essential oils by shedding new light on the molecular mechanisms that mediate these properties.

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