Chemical Composition and Assessment of Antimicrobial Activity of Lavender Essential Oil and Some By-Products

Abstract

The producers of essential oils from the Republic of Moldova care about the quality of their products and at the same time, try to capitalize on the waste from processing. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the chemical composition of lavender (Lavanda angustifolia L.) essential oil and some by-products derived from its production (residual water, residual herbs), as well as to assess their “in vitro” antimicrobial activity. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of essential oils produced by seven industrial manufacturers led to the identification of 41 constituents that meant 96.80–99.79% of the total. The main constituents are monoterpenes (84.08–92.55%), followed by sesquiterpenes (3.30–13.45%), and some aliphatic compounds (1.42–3.90%). The high-performance liquid chromatography analysis allowed the quantification of known triterpenes, ursolic, and oleanolic acids, in freshly dried lavender plants and in the residual by-products after hydrodistillation of the essential oil. The lavender essential oil showed good antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Xanthomonas campestris, Erwinia carotovora at 300 μg/mL concentration, and Erwinia amylovora, Candida utilis at 150 μg/mL concentration, respectively. Lavender plant material but also the residual water and ethanolic extracts from the solid waste residue showed high antimicrobial activity against Aspergillus niger, Alternaria alternata, Penicillium chrysogenum, Bacillus sp., and Pseudomonas aeroginosa strains, at 0.75–6.0 μg/mL, 0.08–0.125 μg/mL, and 0.05–4.0 μg/mL, respectively.

Exogenous Paclobutrazol Reinforces the Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Properties of Lavender (Lavandula officinalis L.) Oil through Modulating Its Composition of Oxygenated Terpenes

“…Several investigations proposed that the mechanism of action of monoterpenes and its derivatives affect the cell membrane permeability, based on their ability to stop cell wall synthesis and damage the cytoplasmic membrane, resulting in lysis and leakage of intracellular components [60]. Additionally, our results were similar to those reported elsewhere [61], which showed that essential oil derived from lavender displayed significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus niger. In the present work, the findings were in agreement with previous studies that linked essential oil's antibacterial potency to the presence of a considerable amount of camphor [62], confirming that oxygenated monoterpenes had antibacterial properties against a variety of bacteria.…”

Molecular Distillation of Lavender Supercritical Extracts: Physicochemical and Antimicrobial Characterization of Feedstocks and Assessment of Distillates Enriched with Oxygenated Fragrance Components

“…Hence, there is a strong demand for high quality lavender products, desirable not only by the fragrance and perfume industries, but also in skincare and beauty products, pharmaceutical products, and in other forms of integrative medicine. According to Moussi Imane et al [ 63 ] and Ciocarlan et al [ 64 ], L. angustifolia essential oil demonstrates good activity against several bacterial species.…”

Progress in Alternative Strategies to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance: Focus on Antibiotics

“…The term ‘essential oil’ was first used by Paracelsus von Hohenheim, a medieval Swiss physician [ 102 ]. EOs include terpenes, aldehydes, phenolic, terpenoids, and other aromatic constituents that have demonstrated antimicrobial activities [ 99 , 100 , 101 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 ]. EOs mainly contribute to the disruption of the bacterial cell membrane and inhibition of the efflux pump responsible for certain AMR in Gram-negative bacteria [ 100 , 105 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 ].…”

“…More in-depth studies are necessary to discover and identify novel EO compounds that may one day be used in clinical practice [ 100 , 103 ]. EOs that have been extensively studied include cinnamon bark [ 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 ], lavender [ 107 , 124 , 125 ], peppermint [ 126 , 127 ], and tea tree oil [ 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 ]. Other studied EOs include, but are not limited to, eucalyptus, black pepper, lemongrass, and palmarosa [ 100 , 104 , 132 ].…”