Composition And Antimicrobial Activity Of The Essential Oil Obtained From Satureja Brevicalyx E. Leaves

Abstract

The genus Satureja is characterized for being aromatic shrubs of worldwide distribution, of ancestral use by diverse cultures due to its medicinal properties which are attributed to the hydrocarbon compounds as secondary metabolites that can be extracted in the essential oil of its aerial parts. In this study, the essential oil was extracted from the leaves of S. brevicalyx E. by steam distillation and the relative amount of the metabolites was identified by GC-MS, and their antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli was determined by agar diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) tests. Thirty-one compounds were identified in the oil, of which 90,3 % were found in proportions of less than 6 %, with the highest number of oxygenated monoterpenes menthone at 32,7 %, followed by pulegone (20,89 %) and isomenthone (10,71 %). The oil showed higher activity against gram-positive bacteria with MIC equal to MBC at 781 and 938 μg/ml for L. monocytogenes and B. cereus respectively, while E. coli was less sensitive, with MIC of 1 875 μg/ml and MBC of 3 750 μg/ml. This type of shrub can be a source of isolation of monoterpenes, of great utility in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food industry and its conservation, as an alternative for the inhibition of the growth of pathogens with the potential to form biofilms and cause food-borne diseases.