Elsevier

Food Control

Volume 15, Issue 7, October 2004, Pages 549-557
Food Control

Biological activities of the essential oils and methanol extract of Origanum vulgare ssp. vulgare in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2003.08.009Get rights and content

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial activities, antioxidant and properties of essential oils and methanol extracts of Origanum vulgare ssp. vulgare plants. The chemical composition of a hydrodistilled essential oil of O. vulgare ssp. vulgare was analyzed by a GC/MS system. A total 62 constituents were identified. Caryophyllene and spathulenol were found to be the main constituents, followed by germacrene-D and α-terpineol. Antioxidant activity was measured employing two methods namely, scavenging of free radical DPPH and the inhibition of linoleic acid oxidation by methanol extracts and the essential oil of O. vulgare ssp. vulgare. Antioxidant studies suggested that methanol extract behaved as a strong free radical scavenger providing IC50 at only 9.9 μg/ml, whereas the oil showed weaker activity with IC50 at 8.9 mg/ml. Total phenolic constituents based on gallic acid equivalents revealed the presence of total soluble phenolics in the extract as 220 μg/mg dry extract (22%, w/w) and, most probably, they are responsible for the radical scavenging activity of methanol extracts. Methanol extract was not effectively able to inhibit linoleic acid oxidation and only 32% inhibition was achieved at 2 mg/ml concentration, far below that of the positive control (butylated hyroxytoluene, BHT) at the same concentration. However, 2.2 mg/ml essential oil solutions provided 50% inhibition in the linoleic acid oxidation test system.

The antimicrobial test results showed that the essential oil of O. vulgare ssp. vulgare had great potential of antimicrobial activity against all 10 bacteria, and 15 fungi and yeast species tested. In contrast, the methanol extract from aerial parts of O. vulgare plant showed no antimicrobial activity. The result may suggest that the essential oil O. vulgare ssp. vulgare possesses compounds with antimicrobial properties as well as antioxidant activity, and therefore can be used as a natural preservative ingredient in food and/or pharmaceutical industry.

Introduction

The genus Origanum (Labiatae) is an annual, perennial and shrubby herb that is native to the Mediterranean, Euro-Siberian and Irano-Siberian regions (Aligiannis, Kalpoutzakis, Mitaku, & Chinou, 2001). A total 38 Origanum species are recognized in the World. Most of the Origanum species, over 75%, are concentrated in the East Mediterranean subregion (Ietswaart, 1980). Of them, 16 species are considered as endemic for the flora of Turkey (Guner, Ozhatay, Ekim, & Baser, 2000). Origanum species grow abundantly on stony slopes and in rocky mountain areas at a wide range of altitudes (0–4000 m) (Snogerup, 1971). Due to the variability in chemical and aroma characteristics, Origanum plants belonging to different species and ecotypes (biotypes) are widely used in agriculture and the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries as a culinary herb, flavouring substances of food products, alcoholic beverages and perfumery for their spicy fragrance (Aligiannis et al., 2001; Novak et al., 2000; Sivropoulou et al., 1996; Vera & Chane-Ming, 1999). It has also used been as a traditional remedy to treat various ailments such as a spasmodic, antimicrobial, expectoran carminative and aromatic for whooping and convulsive coughs, digestive disorders and menstrual problems (Aligiannis et al., 2001; Daferera, Basil, Ziogas, & Polissiou, 2003; Daferera, Ziogas, & Polissiou, 2000; Dmetzos, Perdetzoglou, & Tan, 2001; Dorman & Deans, 2000; Ryman, 1992; Sokovic, Tzakou, Pitarokili, & Couladis, 2002; Tabanca, Demirci, Ozek, Tumen, & Baser, 2001).

In previous studies, it has been demonstrated that the content of essential oil and extracts of medicinal plants like Origanum species containing antimicrobial, antioxidant and other biological activities may change based on the differences in cultivation, origin, vegetative stage and growing seasons of the plants (Deans, Svoboda, Gundidza, & Brechany, 1992; Kustrak, Kuftinec, Blazevic, & Maffei, 1996; Leung & Foster, 1996; Milos, Mastelic, & Jerkovic, 2000; Muller-Riebau, Berger, & Yegen, 1995). Origanum. vulgare ssp. vulgare is one of the most widely distributed subspecies growing in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. However, there have been no attempts to study the chemical composition and biological activities of essential oils and extracts from O. vulgare ssp. vulgare plants collected from the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey up to now. In recent years, multiple drug/chemical resistance in both human and plant pathogenic microorganisms have been developed due to indiscriminate use of commercial antimicrobial drugs/chemical commonly used in the treatment of infectious diseases (Davis, 1994; Loper et al., 1991; Service, 1995). On the other hand, foodborne diseases are still a major problem in the World, even in well developed countries, like USA (Mead et al., 1999). Food spoilage caused by a variety of microorganisms has often been recognized as inconvenient and one of the most important concern for food industry. So far many bacteria (Escherichia coli, Enterobacter spp., Bacillus spp., Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni), yeast and fungi (Candida spp., Zygosaccharomyces spp., Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Rhizopus spp., and Penicillium spp.) species has been reported as the causal agents of foodborne diseases and/or food spoilage (Betts, Linton, & Betteridge, 1999; Deak & Beuchat, 1996; Pitt & Hocking, 1997; Walker, 1988). The contamination of raw and/or processed foods with microflora can take place at various stages from the production to the sale and distribution. (Deak & Beuchat, 1996). Thus, food industry at present uses chemical preservatives to prevent the growth of food spoiling microbes (Sağdıç & Özcan, 2003). Due to the economical impacts of spoiled foods and the consumer’s concerns over the safety of foods containing synthetic chemicals, a lot of attention has been paid to naturally derived compounds or natural products (Alzoreky & Nakahara, 2003; Hsieh, Mau, & Huang, 2001). Recently, there has been considerable interest in extracts and essential oils from aromatic plants with antimicrobial activities for controlling pathogens and/or toxin producing microorganisms in foods (Alzoreky & Nakahara, 2003; Soliman & Badeaa, 2002; Valero & Salmeron, 2003).

Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to analyze the chemical composition of a hydrodistilled essential oil of O. vulgare ssp. vulgare collected from the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey by a GC/MS system in order to be determined the essential oil chemotype; (2) to investigate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oil and methanol extracts from O. vulgare ssp. vulgare plants.

Section snippets

Plant material

O. vulgare ssp. vulgare plants at flowering stage were collected from Oltu valley (1200 m), Erzurum, Turkey. The taxonomic identification of plant materials was confirmed by a senior plant taxonomist, Meryem Şengül, in Department of Biology, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey. Collected plant materials were dried in shadow, and the leaves of plant were separated from the stem, and ground in a grinder with a 2 mm diameter mesh. The voucher specimen has been deposited at the Herbarium of the

Chemical composition of the essential oil

The composition of O. vulgare ssp. vulgare essential oil was analyzed by employing GC–MS, leading to compare the relative retention times and the mass spectra of oil components with those of authentic samples and mass spectra from data library.

As shown in Table 1, GC/MS analysis of the crude oil resulted in the identification of 62 compounds representing about 89% of the oil. Caryophyllene (14.4%) and spathulenol (11.6%) were the most prominent compounds, followed by germacrene-D (8.1%) and

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