Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the essential oil and methanol extract of Nepeta cataria.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is an important medicinal herb belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae. In this study, the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extract from Nepeta cataria, and its essential oil composition were investigated. The essential oil, which has 4aalpha,7alpha,7abeta-nepetalactone (70.4%), 4aalpha,7alpha,7abeta-nepetalactone (6.0%), thymol (2.3%), and 4aalpha,7alpha, 7abeta3-nepetalactone (2.5%), as main components, exhibited activity against eleven bacteria, and twelve fungi and a yeast, C. albicans; with Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) values ranging from 12.50 to 250 microl/ml; the methanol extract showed weaker activity. The samples were also subjected to a screening for their possible antioxidant activities by using 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and beta-carotene/linoleic acid assays. In DPPH assay, the extract showed slight antioxidant activity whereas the essential oil remained inactive. In the latter case, both the extract and the essential oil exerted weak activity having inhibiton ratios of linoleic acid oxidation at 16.4% and 27.0%, respectively. The weak antioxidative nature of the extract could be attributed to the low phenolic content, estimated as gallic acid equivalent at 22.6 +/- 2.07 microg/ml or 2.26%. In both systems, antioxidant capacity of BHT was determined in parallel experiments.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extract of Hippomarathrum microcarpum (Bieb.) from Turkey.

Hippomarathrum microcarpum grows wild in eastern Anatolia, Turkey, and is a plant utilized as food by people. In this study, the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extract from H. microcarpum and its essential oil composition were investigated. The essential oil, which has bornyl acetate, caryophyllene oxide, and beta-caryophyllene as its main components, exhibited activity against eight bacteria, nine fungi, and a yeast, Candida albicans, with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 62.50 to 125 muL/mL; the methanol extract showed weak activity. The antioxidant activity of these extracts was assessed by the beta-carotene bleaching test and the 1,1'-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging test. The inhibition of linoleic acid oxidation was very weak for both extracts tested. The inhibition percentages were found to be 22.9 and 33.5% for methanol and essential oil, respectively, at the concentration of 2 g/L. The oil scavenged DPPH at higher concentrations (IC50 = 10.69 +/- 0.05 mg/mL), but the methanol extract exhibited no activity. The total phenolic content of the methanol extract was found to be 4.7 +/- 0.1%.

Screening of chemical composition and antifungal and antioxidant activities of the essential oils from three Turkish artemisia species.

The compositions of essential oils isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia absinthium, Artemisia santonicum, and Artemisia spicigera by hydrodistillation were analyzed by GC-MS, and a total of 204 components were identified. The major components of these essential oils were camphor (34.9-1.4%), 1,8-cineole (9.5-1.5%), chamazulene (17.8-nd%), nuciferol propionate (5.1-nd%), nuciferol butanoate (8.2-nd%), caryophyllene oxide (4.3-1.7%), borneol (5.1-0.6%), alpha-terpineol (4.1-1.6%), spathulenol (3.7-1.3%), cubenol (4.2-0.1%), beta-eudesmol (7.2-0.6%), and terpinen-4-ol (3.5-1.2%). The antifungal activities of these essential oils were tested against 11 plant fungi and were compared with that of a commercial antifungal reagent, benomyl. The results showed that all of the oils have potent inhibitory effects at very broad spectrum against all of the tested fungi. Pure camphor and 1,8-cineole, which are the major components of the oils, were also tested for antifungal activity against the same fungal species. Unlike essential oils, these pure compounds were able to show antifungal activity against only some of the fungal species. In addition, the antioxidant and DPPH radical scavenging activities of the essential oils, camphor, and 1,8-cineole were determined in vitro. All of the studied essential oils showed antioxidant activity, but camphor and 1,8-cineole did not.