AVALIAÇÃO FITOQUÍMICA ANTIMICROBIANA E INSECTICIDA DE PLANTAS AROMÁTICAS DA FAMÍLIA DAS LABIATAE

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Evaluation of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils, extracts and their main components from oregano from Madeira Island, Portugal

Publication . Castilho, Paula C.; Savluchinske-Feio, Sonia; Weinhold, Tatiana S.; Gouveia, Sandra C.

Origanum vulgare subsp. virens growing wild in Madeira Island, Portugal was studied within the ongoing investigations on polymorphic Lamiaceae species. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils and n-hexane extracts of origanum was determined against 10 strains of bacteria and yeasts, found as human pathogenic or food spoilage microorganisms. The essential oils, n-hexane extracts and isolated compounds showed moderately activity, compared to standard antibiotics, inhibiting all tested bacteria except Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The most sensitive microorganism was Mycobacterium smegmatis, reaching MIC ¼ 25 mg mL 1 . The results obtained suggest a potential application of these oils in pre venting the human pathogenic and food spoilage due to microorganism’s growth. The essential oils and n-hexane extracts have greater RSC than polar extracts, probably due to the high contents in thymol, which demonstrated the highest activity in the DPPH assay. All studied origanum samples showed a large content in non-esterified 1-hexacosanol, C26H54O, accumulated mainly in bracts and flowers

2012Journal article

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