Evaluation of the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Mentha pulegium, Juniperus phoenicea, and Cyperus longus essential oils from Morocco

The present study evaluates the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils (EOs) of Mentha pulegium L., Juniperus phoenicea L and Cyperus longus L from Morocco. The composition of these species was analyzed by GC/MS and 84 components were identified. M. pulegium EO showed a great similarity with EOs coming from other regions, as pulegone, the major component, accounted for about 70% of the EO. The EO off. phoenicea had as main components a-pinene (24.9%), beta-phellandrene (24.4%) and a-terpinyl acetate (12.9%). The EO extracted from C. loops was remarkably rich in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (83.2%), which included beta-himachalene (46.6%), alpha-humulene (16.9%), and gamma-himachalene (10.1%). The antimicrobial activity of these EOs has been evaluated against seven bacteria of significant importance for food hygiene. According to the results, M. pulegium showed the best bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect, followed by J. phoenicea and C. bongos. So far as we know, this is the first report on the quantitative composition and biological activity of the essential oil from C. bongos. The tested EOs showed a variable degree of antimicrobial activity being M. pulegium the most effective one. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.