This work is a summary of the characterization, activities, and ethnobotanical surveys about aromatic and medicinal plants belonging to the genus Mentha in Morocco. The Mentha species investigated are Mentha pulegium, Mentha spicata, Mentha viridis, Mentha suaveolens, Mentha longifolia, Mentha gattefossei, Mentha rotundifolia, and Mentha vulgare, with M. pulegium being the most studied species. M. spicata and M. viridis are poorly explored even though they are daily consumed by Moroccans in tea infusions. The elucidated factors affecting the composition of Mentha essential oils are fertilization, drying conditions, mechanical impedance, NaCl stress, and Gamma irradiation. Investigation of the activities of the Mentha species showed that the main interest was dedicated to addressing the antibacterial effect towards gramþ and gram-bacteria. Essential oils of Mentha species exhibited antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant, insecticidal, licidal, niticidal, allelopathic, antidiabetic, derma-protective, and anticorrosive activities. The ethnobotanical surveys revealed that Mentha species are used in seven regions: Tafilalet, High Atlas, Fez-Boulemane, Taounat, Oujda, Ouazzane, and Rabat. By calculating the Jaccard index, the highest degree of similarity was found between Tafilalet, Rabat, and Oujda regions. The wide use of the Mentha species in Morocco highlights the high ethnobotanical value of the genus.

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Erwinia chrysanthemi is a phytopathogenic bacterium causing soft rot disease in several agricultural products. Conventional techniques used in the control of this phytopathology have serious limitations due to the emergence of resistant strains and the undesirable effect on the environment of chemical treatments. In this work, we report the isolation of an actinomycete strain from a Moroccan biotope that inhibits the growth of Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937VIII. PCR amplification and DNA sequencing of the 16 S ribosomal RNA gene allowed the identification of this strain as Streptomyces cinereoruber. The concentrated culture supernatant of this actinomycete strain exhibited activity against the growth of Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937VIII and two Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus amylolitiquefaciens, but had no effect on other Gram-negative bacteria tested (Erwinia carotovora 197stp R , Escherichia coli TG1 and Pseudomonas sp.), suggesting that this actinomycete strain secretes into the extracellular medium a substance that inhibits selectively the growth of other bacteria, especially the phytopathogenic Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937VIII. The antibacterial activity of Streptomyces cinereoruber found in this study highlights the importance of actinomycetes strains as candidates for the biological control of pathogenic bacteria. The identification and characterization of the active substance would open the way for further technological and therapeutic investigations.

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This study investigates the performance of soil and OMW microfloras in OMW organic matter humification in soil. In order to highlight the role of OMW and soil microfloras in the processes of OMW organic matter humification, either OMW or soil was sterilized with autoclaving. The study was carried out in microcosms of 1l containing 500 g of raw or sterilized soil, to which was added 200 ml of raw or sterilized OMW. After 24 months of incubation, the amount of phenolic compounds in the different microcosms was statistically indifferent compared to the control. However, TG-DTA and FTIR analysis of soil humic acids showed that recalcitrant OMW phenolic compounds remain in soil humus in the microcosm: sterilized OMW þ raw soil, even after 24 months. Results show that humic acids detected in presence of OMW microflora are loaded with proteins and carbonated compounds and deprived of phenolic compounds and aliphatics with long chain, while humic acids detected in absence of OMW microflora are loaded with phenolic compounds.