Biological investigations of antioxidant-antimicrobial properties and chemical composition of essential oil from Lavandula multifida

Abstract

Khalid Sellam, Mhamed Ramchoun, Chakib Alem, Lhoussaine El-Rhaffari

Essential oils obtained from plants have a number of potential uses owing to their notable antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. The genus Lavandula is widely distributed in the archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. Essential oils and plant extracts derived from the genus Lavandula have been used therapeutically for centuries. In the present study, the essential oil of Lavandula multifida collected from the Tafilalet region in South-East Morocco was obtained by hydrodistillation method from leaves. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the oil identified a total of 34 compounds (96.5%); the major compounds were carvacrol (66.2%), spathulenol (4.9%), p-cymene-8-ol (4.2%), caryophyllene oxide (2.7%) and terpinolene (2.6%). The essential oil exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against tested representative human disease bacteria, i.e. Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, and antifungal activity against phytopathogenic strains such as Alternaria sp, Pencillium expansum, Rhizopus stolonifer, Botrytis cinerea. Furthermore, the Lavandula multifida essential oil showed an important antioxidant property via radical scavenging ability, and antioxidant activity determined by 1,1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and β-carotene bleaching test.