A comparative study of microwave-assisted and conventional hydro distillation methods for extracting essential oils and evaluating their antimicrobial activity from Cleome khorassanica: novel research

Abstract

This study reports on the phytochemical analysis and antimicrobial activity evaluation of essential oils extracted from the aerial parts of Cleome khorassanica using both microwave-assisted water distillation (MAHD) and classical hydro distillation (HD). Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was used to analyze the chemical composition of the essential oils. The main components identified in the MAHD-extracted oil were γ-Cadinene (34.29%) and δ-Cadinene (19.52%), while o-Isopropenyltoluene (46.7%) and Duodecyclic acid (10.96%) were the major components in the HD-extracted oil. The MAHD technique showed higher extraction efficiency in a shorter time than the conventional HD method. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was evaluated using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method. The results showed that the essential oil and methanolic extract of Cleome khorassanica exhibited significant inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus alternata and Fusarium solani. Gram-positive bacteria and fungi were more susceptible to the essential oil than Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, the samples extracted by MAHD demonstrated better antimicrobial activity compared to the HD-extracted oil.