Antibacterial action against food-borne microorganisms and antioxidant activity of carvacrol-rich oil from Lippia origanoides Kunth

Abstract

BackgroundLippia origanoides Kunth from Northeast Brazil is a plant of pleasant odor used by local people as a food seasoning in substitution the oregano where its carvacrol-rich oil has showed significant antimicrobial activity against human pathogens.MethodsGC and GC-MS analyzed the plant oil composition and its antibacterial activity was evaluated by disk diffusion and microdilution broth methods. The determination of oil antioxidant activity was made by DPPH radical scavenging assay. Oil toxicity was performed on mice.ResultsThe main constituents of the oil were carvacrol (47.2 %), thymol (12.8 %), p-cymene (9.7 %), and p-methoxythymol (7.4 %). The oil was active against the bacteria of Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, and Salmonella typhimurium, except for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antioxidant activity has displayed a high dose–response (r2 = 0.92), with the inhibition of DPPH radical from 15 to 82 %, at concentrations from 5 to 50 μg/mL, and also by the β-carotene bleaching assay, which showed a high inhibition of 85.2 ± 6.8 %, corresponding to about 80 % of the inhibition of Trolox (93.4 ± 0.7 %), used as a standard. The lethal dose (LD50) of the oil was determined in 1673.84 mg mL−1.ConclusionThe results confirmed that the oil of L. origanoides could be utilized for the prevention of food bacterial growth, and as an antioxidative agent for retardation of food oxidation process. The oil has low toxicity, allowing its application in the food industry.Graphical AbstractAerial parts of Lippia origanoides Kunth

Antiparasitic, physiological and histological effects of the essential oil of Lippia origanoides (Verbenaceae) in native freshwater fish Colossoma macropomum

“…Analysis of the L. origanoides essential oil used in this study indicated that its major chemical constituents are carvacrol, p-cymene and thymol. Similar results have been reported previously with L. origanoides essential oil (Teles et al, 2014;Ribeiro et al, 2014;Sarrazin et al, 2015aSarrazin et al, , 2015bVera et al, 2014;and Vicuña et al, 2010). Thymol and carvacrol have been shown to have antimicrobial, antigenotoxic and anti-protozoal properties, and may therefore be responsible for the bioactive effects of L. origanoides essential oil (Nostro et al, 2004;Sarrazin et al, 2015aSarrazin et al, , 2015bVicuña et al, 2010;Escobar et al, 2010).…”

“…However, these lesions were most likely caused by the parasites themselves as they occurred frequently in all treatments and controls. Indeed, L. origanoides essential oil has been previously shown to not be very cytotoxic in rat (Sarrazin et al, 2015b), insect (Caballero-Gallardo et al, 2012) and other mammalian cells (Escobar et al, 2010). Furthermore, similar gill lesions have also been described for Piaractus brachypomus (Verján et al, 2001) and Rachycentron canadum (Guerra-Santos et al, 2012), infected by different species of parasites.…”

“…Lippia origanoides Kunth (Verbenaceae), is an aromatic shrub found from Southern North America, through Central America, to the north of repellents (Oliveira et al, 2007;Escobar et al, 2010;Vicuña et al, 2010;Betancourt et al, 2012;Caballero-Gallardo et al, 2012;Barreto et al, 2014aBarreto et al, , 2014bSarrazin et al, 2015aSarrazin et al, , 2015bTeles et al, 2014;Vera et al, 2014). However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no existing studies exploring the potential of the essential oil of L. origanoides as a treatment against parasites in fish.…”

Yields, chemical composition, and antimicrobial activity of two Algerian essential oils against 40 avian multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli strains

“…The mechanism of action of Carvacrol and Thymol, each on their side or in synergy, involves the disruption of the cell membrane and escape of cytoplasmic contents [88]. In E. coli , Carvacrol and Thymol provoke the depolarization and disintegration of the external membrane, liberating lipopolysaccharides and increasing the permeability of the cytoplasmic membrane [89,90]. Other studies, explaining even more the results we have obtained, rapported that, in addition to the ratio in which the main active constituents are present, the interactions between these and the minor constituents can also affect the antibacterial activity of EO; this is the case of p -cymen (whose level in Thyme were 9.99 %) which is not an efficient antimicrobial agent when used alone, but with Carvacrol and Thymol, it can potentiate the action of the EO to promoting the cytoplasmic membrane expansion and facilitating the antimicrobial action of these monoterpene phenols [90,91].…”

Composition and cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of the oil of Piper aequale Vahl

“…The antioxidant activity of the oil was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging assay, using methodology adapted by us [ 13 ]. DPPH is a stable dark violet free radical with a maximum absorption at 517 nm.…”