Abstrakt

Chemical composition and antimicrobial effect of the essential oil of Mentha longifolia L.

Maleki Maryam, Gandomkar Elham, Zhila Sarfarazi Moghadam, Ali Mohamadi Sani

The aimof this studywas to determine the composition and antimicrobial effect ofMentha longifolia L. essential oil in “in-vitro” condition. For this purpose, the chemical composition of the essential oil which obtained by hydrodistillation was examined by GC/MS and the antimicrobial effect was studied on the growth of bacterial species including Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris using micro-dilution method. The minimuminhibitory concentration (MIC) andminimumbactericidal or fungicidal concentration (MBC,MFC) were determined for the essential oil. Chemical composition analysis of the essential oil identified a total of 66 compounds. Themain components of essential oilwere Carvone (32%), 1,8-cineole (19%), piperitone (12%), limonene (9%) and limonene (6%) representing 78%of the total oil. Other separated components accounted for less than 22%of the oil. Results of antimicrobial analysis showed that Bacillus cereus (MIC=58 andMBC=232 µg/ml) was more resistance than two other bacterial species. The results of the present study indicated that Mentha longifolia L. essential oil had significant antimicrobial activity; therefore, it can be used as a natural preservation to increase the shelf life of food products.