Chemical Composition of Essential Oil from Rhanterium suaveolens Desf. and its Antimicrobial Activity Against Foodborne Spoilage Pathogens and Mycotoxigenic Fungi

• Published in: Journal of essential oil-bearing plants (Dehra Dun) Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 592 - 603
• Main Authors: Salah, Hichem Ben, Bouaziz, Hanène, Allouche, Noureddine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 04.05.2019
• Subjects: antimicrobial activity; essential oil; GC-MS analysis; multiple linear regression; Rhanterium suaveolens Desf
• ISSN: 0972-060X; 0976-5026
• DOI: 10.1080/0972060X.2019.1624199

The intention of this study was to explore the antibacterial and antifungal properties of essential oil from the flowers of Rhanterium suaveolens Desf. growing in Tunisia and determine its chemical composition which leads to the Tunisian chemotype. The GC and GC-MS analyses of essential oil conducted to the identification of twenty-seven compounds representing 99.08 % of the total oil. The main constituents were α-pinene (25.84 %), β-pinene (17.57 %), 1-octen-3-ol (16.23 %), camphene (12.28 %), limonene (8.03 %), β-myrcene (5.13 %), pinocarvone (2.98 %) and p-cymene (2.51 %). The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the volatile oil were screened in vitro using microdilution and disc diffusion methods. Considerable antibacterial effect was recorded against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with MIC values ranging from 23 to 230 μg/mL. A powerful antifungal activity was also observed against five human pathogenic fungi. The highest antifungal effect was revealed against Candida albicans and Fusarium phylophylum with less MIC values of 11.5 μg/mL. On the basis of these results, the major eight chemical constituents of Rhanterium suaveolens essential oil could be used for constructing regression models to predict antibacterial and antifungal activities. These results suggest the possibility to use of Rh. suaveolens essential oil as a promising antimicrobial agent in drug and food preservation.