Abstract

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Mentha piperita endemic in Khorasan-Iran

Author(s): M.Hasani, M.Nouri, V.Hakimzadeh, M.Maleki

The aim of this study was to determine the composition and antimicrobial effect ofMentha piperita essential oil in “in-vitro” condition. The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained by hydro-distillationwas examined byGC/MS and the antimicrobial effectwas studied on the growth of seven microbial species including Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris usingmicro-dilutionmethod. Theminimuminhibitory concentration (MIC) andminimumbactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined. Chemical composition analysis identified a total of 28 compounds in which the main components wereMenthol (32%),Mentone (13.4),Menthyl acetate (12%), 1,8-Cineole (8.2%) and Neomenthol (4%) representing 69.6%of the total oil. Other separated components accounted for less than 30.4%of the oil. Results of antimicrobial analysis showed that theMIC values for Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris was respectively 50, 200 and 100 µg/ml and the MBC was determined at 200, 400 and 200 µg/ml respectively.The results of the present study indicated that Mentha piperita essential oil had significant antimicrobial activity.