Abstract
Pimpinella anisum L. (family Apiaceae) is widely used for curing variety of ailments. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of chloroform and ethanol extracts from the seed of Pimpinella anisum against standard microorganism. This plant has been used as a traditional treatment for several diseases such as microbial infections. Extracts were evaluated for their effectiveness against four bacterial strains including both Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria as well as fungal species (Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger) using disc diffusion method. The chloroform extract showed the highest activity against B.subtilis (11 mm), E. coli (16mm) and P. aeruginosa (14.5 mm) but the same result against S. aureus in two extracts (15.5 mm). All extracts exhibited high antifungal activity against C. albicans and A. niger with inhibition zone ranging from (14.5 to 20 mm). The quantitative analysis of chemical composition determined by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The result showed high amounts of Butanoic acid, 2-methyl-, 2-methoxy-4-(2-propenyl) phenyl ester (23.21%) and Anethole (12.52%).
Highlights
Anise (Pimpinella anisum), is an annual important spice and medicinal plant belonging to the family of Apiaceae, and native to Mediterranean region
The antibacterial activity of the chloroform and ethanol extracts from seed of Pimpinella anisum was determined against the Gram positive B. subtilis and S. aureus and the Gram negative E. coli and P. aeruginosa and two fungi; A. niger and C. albicans using the disc diffusion method
The chloroform extract showed the highest activity against B.subtilis(11 mm), E. coli (16mm) and P. aeruginosa (14.5 mm) but the same result against S. aureus in two extracts (15.5 mm).All extracts exhibited high antifungal activity against C. albicans and A. niger with inhibition zone ranging from (14.5 to 20 mm)
Summary
Anise (Pimpinella anisum), is an annual important spice and medicinal plant belonging to the family of Apiaceae, and native to Mediterranean region. Anise seeds are an important natural raw material which is used for pharmaceutics, perfumery, food and cosmetic industries [1]. In recently, this spice plant has drawn more consideration of consumers due to the antimicrobial, antifungal, insecticidal, and antioxidtaive effect of this herb on human health [2]. Anise fruits known as aniseed contain 1.5 - 5.0% essential oil with trans-anethole, a phenylpropanoid, as predominant component [9]. The essential oil of the anise fruits contains small quantity of estragol, anisaldehyde, γ-himachalene and cisanethole [10,11,12,13]. In European countries consumption of anise fruits is more than its production so the amount of
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