Essential Oil Composition, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activity of the Oil and Various Extracts of Ziziphora clinopodioides subsp. rigida (BOISS.) RECH. f. from Iran

Abstract

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of Z. clinopodioides subsp. rigida (BOISS.) RECH. f. was analysed by GC and GC-MS. Thirty-one constituents accounting to 99.5% of the total oil were identified. Oxygenated monoterpenes (93.3%) were the predominant portion of the oil with pulegone (45.8%), piperitenone (17.4%), p-menth-3-en-8-ol (12.5%) and thymol (8.0%) as the main constituents. Antibacterial activity of the oil and its two main compounds and various extracts of plant were tested against seven Gram-(+) or Gram-(-) bacteria. It was found that the oil and MeOH extract (M) exhibited interesting antibacterial activity. The samples were also subjected to screening for their possible antioxidant activity by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrazylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The free radical scavenging activity of MeOH extract (M) was superior to all other extracts (IC50=30.7 microg/ml), while the oil was less effective.

Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Some Plants Used as Remedies in Turkish Traditional Medicine

“…These results are compatible with the results reported by Salehi et al (2005), who reported that a methanol extract of this plant exhibited antibacterial activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus, and E. coli. However, acetone extract of Iranian Z. clinopodioides subsp.…”

“…However, acetone extract of Iranian Z. clinopodioides subsp. rigida has not shown any antibacterial activity (Salehi et al, 2005). Convensely, in the current study, the acetone extract of Turkish Z. clinopodioides showed a remarkable antibacterial activity.…”

“…Consequently, there are numerous studies on the antioxidant potential of Thymus species growing in various regions of the world (Ismaili et al, 2004;Sokmen et al, 2004;Agbor et al, 2005;Ozgen et al, 2006;Vitalini et al, 2006). Recent reports show that various Thymus and several Ziziphora species have antioxidant potential (Ismaili et al, 2004;Sokmen et al, 2004;Agbor et al, 2005;Salehi et al, 2005;Ghafari et al, 2006;Ozgen et al, 2006;Vitalini et al, 2006). As shown in Figures 1 and 7, all extracts of Z. clinopodioides and T. fallax have potent antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities.…”

“…Therefore, research into biologically active extracts and compounds from natural sources has been of great interest to scientists in an attempt to discover new sources for drugs that may be useful in combating infectious diseases. In recent years, a large number of studies dealing with antimicrobial screening of the extracts of medicinal plants have been reported (Sokmen et al, 1999;Keles et al, 2001;Erdogrul, 2002;Mukherjee et al, 2002;Rabanal et al, 2002;Dall'Agnol et al, 2003;Fenner et al, 2005;Ozturk & Ercisli, 2005;Salehi et al, 2005). Turkish native herbs from both natural and cultivated sources are being more widely used on a commercial scale in the food industry, in traditional medicine, and for their flavoring properties (Baytop, 1999).…”

“…Medicinal plants and herbs are diverse sources of natural antioxidants. Therefore, there is a great interest concerning the antioxidant properties of medicinal plants and herbs (Velioglu et al, 1998;Cakir et al, 2003Cakir et al, , 2006Ismaili et al, 2004;Sokmen et al, 2004;Salehi et al, 2005;Erdemoglu et al, 2006;Ozgen et al, 2006). This study was undertaken to determine the potential antimicrobial, antioxidant, and free radical scavenging activities of the extracts of some Turkish native herbs.…”