TY - JOUR
T1 - European pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) from Portugal
T2 - Chemical composition of essential oil and antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of extracts and essential oil
AU - Teixeira, Bárbara
AU - Marques, António
AU - Ramos, Cristina
AU - Batista, Irineu
AU - Serrano, Carmo
AU - Matos, Olívia
AU - Neng, Nuno R.
AU - Nogueira, José M.F.
AU - Saraiva, Jorge Alexandre
AU - Nunes, Maria Leonor
N1 - Funding Information:
The first author acknowledges a PhD grant of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Ref. SFRH/BD/44254/2008 ). 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 ).
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - There is a growing interest of industry to replace synthetic chemicals by natural products with bioactive properties from plant origin. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition of European pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) essential oil and to characterize the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of its water (hot and cold) and ethanolic extracts and of the essential oil. The essential oil revealed menthone, pulegone and neo-menthol as the main constituents, comprising 35.9, 23.2 and 9.2% of the essential oil, respectively. The hot water extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity and phenol content. In contrast, the extracts were not very effective to inhibit the growth of the seven foodborne spoilage and pathogenic bacteria tested, but the essential oil showed antibacterial activity against all bacterial strains. In conclusion, extracts and essential oil of M. pulegium from Mediterranean origin have huge potential as an alternative to chemical additives for the food industry.
AB - There is a growing interest of industry to replace synthetic chemicals by natural products with bioactive properties from plant origin. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition of European pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) essential oil and to characterize the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of its water (hot and cold) and ethanolic extracts and of the essential oil. The essential oil revealed menthone, pulegone and neo-menthol as the main constituents, comprising 35.9, 23.2 and 9.2% of the essential oil, respectively. The hot water extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity and phenol content. In contrast, the extracts were not very effective to inhibit the growth of the seven foodborne spoilage and pathogenic bacteria tested, but the essential oil showed antibacterial activity against all bacterial strains. In conclusion, extracts and essential oil of M. pulegium from Mediterranean origin have huge potential as an alternative to chemical additives for the food industry.
KW - Antimicrobial activity
KW - Antioxidant activity
KW - Essential oil
KW - Ethanol and aqueous extract
KW - European pennyroyal
KW - Mentha pulegium
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80053171861&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.indcrop.2011.08.011
DO - 10.1016/j.indcrop.2011.08.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80053171861
SN - 0926-6690
VL - 36
SP - 81
EP - 87
JO - Industrial Crops and Products
JF - Industrial Crops and Products
IS - 1
ER -