TY - JOUR
T1 - Antioxidant and antibacterial activity of essential oil and extracts of bay laurel Laurus nobilis Linnaeus (Lauraceae) from Portugal
AU - Ramos, C.
AU - Teixeira, B.
AU - Batista, I.
AU - Matos, O.
AU - Serrano, C.
AU - Neng, N. R.
AU - Nogueira, J. M.F.
AU - Nunes, M. L.
AU - Marques, A.
N1 - Funding Information:
B. Teixeira thanks the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Ref. SFRH/BD/ 44254/2008) for providing a PhD grant. A. Marques thanks the same for providing a contract under the Ciênca 2008 program. The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology also supported this study through the Research Project ‘FRESHFISH – Preservation of fish products by using modified atmosphere packaging and edible coatings with sea bass and sea bream as models’ (Ref. PPCDT/DG/MAR/82008/2006). The authors are also grateful to Dr Sónia Pedro (IPIMAR) for providing technical assistance regarding techniques involved in the determination of antimicrobial activity.
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - Laurus nobilis L. is an aromatic plant frequently used as a spice in Mediterranean cookery and as a traditional medicine for the treatment of several infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to characterise the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of bay laurel essential oil (EO), ethanolic extract (EE) and hot/cold aqueous extract (AE). The major components detected in bay laurel EO were eucalyptol (27.2%), α-terpinenyl acetate (10.2%), linalool (8.4%), methyleugenol (5.4%), sabinene (4.0%) and carvacrol (3.2%). The EO exhibited strong antibacterial activity against all tested foodborne spoilage and pathogenic bacteria, whereas this activity was less pronounced or even nonexistent in the EE and AE. In contrast, EO exhibited low antioxidant activity compared to extracts (EX), and among the EX, the hot AE revealed the highest antioxidant ability. The results show that bay laurel EO and its EX have potential as natural alternatives to synthetic food preservatives, in order to enhance food safety and increase food shelf life.
AB - Laurus nobilis L. is an aromatic plant frequently used as a spice in Mediterranean cookery and as a traditional medicine for the treatment of several infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to characterise the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of bay laurel essential oil (EO), ethanolic extract (EE) and hot/cold aqueous extract (AE). The major components detected in bay laurel EO were eucalyptol (27.2%), α-terpinenyl acetate (10.2%), linalool (8.4%), methyleugenol (5.4%), sabinene (4.0%) and carvacrol (3.2%). The EO exhibited strong antibacterial activity against all tested foodborne spoilage and pathogenic bacteria, whereas this activity was less pronounced or even nonexistent in the EE and AE. In contrast, EO exhibited low antioxidant activity compared to extracts (EX), and among the EX, the hot AE revealed the highest antioxidant ability. The results show that bay laurel EO and its EX have potential as natural alternatives to synthetic food preservatives, in order to enhance food safety and increase food shelf life.
KW - Antimicrobial activity
KW - Antioxidant activity
KW - Bay laurel
KW - Essential oil
KW - Ethanol and aqueous extract
KW - Laurus nobilis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84857539807&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14786419.2010.531478
DO - 10.1080/14786419.2010.531478
M3 - Article
C2 - 21756182
AN - SCOPUS:84857539807
SN - 1478-6419
VL - 26
SP - 518
EP - 529
JO - Natural Product Research
JF - Natural Product Research
IS - 6
ER -