Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of the Essential Oils of Some Aromatic Medicinal Plants (Pulicaria inuloides-Asteraceae and Ocimum forskolei-Lamiaceae)

Nabil Qaid M Al-Hajj^1,2, Hong Xing Wang¹ , Chaoyang Ma¹, Zaixiang Lou¹, Mohanad Bashari¹, Riyadh Thabit¹

¹State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; ²Marine Science and Biological Research Authority, Aden, PO Box 1231, Aden, Yemen.

For correspondence:- Hong Wang Email: whx1964@126.com Tel:+8651085917795

Received: 24 March 2014 Accepted: 11 July 2014 Published: 18 August 2014

Citation: Al-Hajj NQ, Wang HX, Ma C, Lou Z, Bashari M, Thabit R. Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of the Essential Oils of Some Aromatic Medicinal Plants (Pulicaria inuloides-Asteraceae and Ocimum forskolei-Lamiaceae). Trop J Pharm Res 2014; 13(8):1287-1293 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i8.13

© 2014 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Pulicaria inuloides and Ocimum forskolei essential oils.

Methods: Steam distillation of the aerial parts of P. inuloides and O. forskolei was performed using a Clevenger apparatus. Essential oils were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activities were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1,1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene bleaching assays. Disc diffusion and microtiter broth microdilution assays were employed to determine antimicrobial activity.

Results: The chemical compounds in P. inuloides essential oil include 2-cyclohexen-1-one, 2-methyl-5-(1-methyl) (55.1 %) and benzene, methyl- (20.6 %). The major components identified in O. forskolei essential oil included bicyclo [3.1.1] hept-2-ene,2, (22.4 %) and naphthalene 1,2,3,4,4a,5,6, (19.3 %). P. inuloides showed a higher total phenol content than O. forskolei (144 ± 5.32 vs. 54.6 ± 30 mg GAE/g extract), higher antioxidant activity (92.92 ± 0.10 % vs. 26.76 ± 0.11 % scavenging activity; IC50, 4.5 ± 0.05 vs. 73.03 ± 0.05) and β-carotene bleaching (90.77 ± 0.21 % vs. 41.03 ± 6.35 % inhibition). P. inuloides essential oil inhibited all tested microorganisms except Salmonella typhimurium and Shigella dysenteriae with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 3.0 μg/mL against Escherichia coli. O. forskolei essential oil inhibited only Candida albicans.

Conclusion: P. inuloides essential oil possesses significant antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.

Keywords: Essential oil; Phenolic content; Antioxidant; Antimicrobial activity, Pulicaria inuloides, Ocimum forskolei, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella dysenter