Castilho, Paula C.Savluchinske-Feio, SoniaWeinhold, Tatiana S.Gouveia, Sandra C.2021-03-312021-03-312012Castilho, P. C., Savluchinske-Feio, S., Weinhold, T. S., & Gouveia, S. C. (2012). Evaluation of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils, extracts and their main components from oregano from Madeira Island, Portugal. Food Control, 23(2), 552-558.http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/3234Origanum 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 flowersengOriganumExtractsEssential oilsAntimicrobialAntioxidant.Faculdade de Ciências Exatas e da Engenhariajournal article10.1016/j.foodcont.2011.08.031