Characterization of Turpentine nanoemulsion and assessment of its antibiofilm potential against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Turpentine essential oil (TEO) is a commercially available product having application as food additive, due to its ethno-botanical and ethnopharmacological properties. In the present study, we performed chemical composition of TEO by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Further, TEO was nanoemulsified, encapsulated and characterized by droplet size, PDI, Zeta potential and transmittance. The obtained turpentine nanoemulsion (TNE) was investigated for its antibacterial and antibiofilm potentiality against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a model biofilm-forming microorganism. Small micellar TEO nanoparticles were succesfully formed with a mean droplet size ranging from 22.52 to 26.54 nm. Thermodynamic stability studies revealed homogeneous dispersion of the droplets size confirming the stability of TNEs. The developed nano-emulsions displayed two fold enhanced antagonistic activity against S. aureus in comparison with TEOs, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values at 0.039% (v/v) against MRSA. Additionally, TNEs displayed potent antibiofilm activity against MRSA strains with percent biofilm disruption of around 70.83%. Findings from this study validates the phytomedicinal significance of turpentine nanoemulsions and envisage its exploration as a natural and cost-effective strategy against bacterial biofilms in medical and industrial sectors.

Chemical composition and intraspecific variability of the essential oils of five populations of Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra growing in North Tunisia.

The chemical composition of the essential oils of five populations of Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra from Tunisia and their intraspecific variability were analyzed in detail by GC/MS. One hundred seventy-four compounds were identified, representing averages of 87.9 to 98.7% of the oil composition. The components are represented here by homologous series of monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, non-terpenic hydrocarbons, and others. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were the most abundant chemical compounds. Multivariate chemometric techniques, such as cluster analysis (CA) and principal-component analysis (PCA), were used to characterize the samples according to the geographical origin. By statistical analysis, the analyzed populations were classified into four chemotype groups.