Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oils from Scabiosa arenariaForssk. Growing Wild in Tunisia
- 11 April 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Chemistry & Biodiversity
- Vol. 9 (4), 829-839
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.201100191
Abstract
The essential oils isolated from three organs, i.e., fruits, stems and leaves, and flowers, of the endemic North African plant Scabiosa arenaria Forssk. were screened for their chemical composition, as well as their possible antibacterial, anticandidal, and antifungal properties. According to the GC-FID and GC/MS analyses, 61 (99.26% of the total oil composition), 79 (98.43%), and 51 compounds (99.9%) were identified in the three oils, respectively. While α-thujone (34.39%), camphor (17.48%), and β-thujone (15.29%) constituted the major compounds of the fruit oil, chrysanthenone (23.43%), together with camphor (12.98%) and α-thujone (10.7%), were the main constituents of the stem and leaf oil. In the case of the flower oil, also chrysanthenone (38.52%), camphor (11.75%), and α-thujone (9.5%) were identified as the major compounds. Furthermore, the isolated oils were tested against 16 Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, four Candida species, and nine phytopathogenic fungal strains. It was found that the oils exhibited interesting antibacterial and anticandidal activities, comparable to those of thymol, which was used as positive control, but no activity against the phytopathogenic fungal strains was observed.Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Biological effects of essential oils – A reviewFood and Chemical Toxicology, 2008
- Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of shiitake (Lentinula edodes) extracts obtained by organic solvents and supercritical fluidsJournal of Food Engineering, 2007
- Ethnobotany of Montseny biosphere reserve (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula): Plants used in veterinary medicineJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 2007
- Constituents of the essential oil of Scabiosa flavida from IranChemistry of Natural Compounds, 2006
- Inhibitory effects of selected plant essential oils on the growth of four pathogenic bacteria: E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenesFood Control, 2006
- Screening of Chemical Composition and Antifungal and Antioxidant Activities of the Essential Oils from Three Turkish Artemisia SpeciesJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2005
- Essential oils: their antibacterial properties and potential applications in foods—a reviewInternational Journal of Food Microbiology, 2004
- Extraction methods and bioautography for evaluation of medicinal plant antimicrobial activityLetters in Applied Microbiology, 2000
- Characterization of the Action of Selected Essential Oil Components on Gram-Negative BacteriaJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 1998
- The antimicrobial properties of marjoram (Origanum majorana L.) Volatile OilFlavour and Fragrance Journal, 1990