Abstract
Essential oils (EO) from fresh and dry aerial parts of Pituranthos chloranthus (Benth.) Hook and Pituranthos tortuosus (Coss.) Maire were isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC/MS. The main constituents of the EO obtained from fresh herb of P. chloranthus were found to be α-pinene, sabinene, cis-ocimene and myrcene. In dry biomass, a significant increase of the content of some compounds such as α-phellandrene, △,3-carene and β-phellandrene characterized the oil. Minor changes in the chemical composition of the P. tortuosus EOs obtained from fresh or dry herbs and the major constituents were found to be sabinene and myrcene with equilibrate amounts of α-pinene, p-cymene, cis-ocimene, limonene, trans-β-ocimene, γ-terpinene and cis-verbenol. The paper disc diffusion method was used to evaluate the antibacterial activity and results showed an important inhibitory effect of oils obtained from fresh herb against most tested bacteria.
Highlights
Pituranthos chloranthus (Benth.) Hook (Apiaceae) is an endemic and aromatic plant, locally named “Aljène” which grows naturally in North Africa and is widespread in central and southern Tunisia
Air-drying the plant material in shade at ambient temperature (17 ̊C - 20 ̊C) resulted in a decrease of the P. chloranthus and P. tortuosus Essential oils (EO) yields (1.6 and 2.0 from the fresh herb and 0.9 and 1.1 from the dry herb, respectively) but affected the density of these oils (0.8922 and 0.9216 of the oils obtained from the fresh herb and 0.7123 and 0.8931 from the dry herb, respectively)
The highest activity has been observed for S. pyogenes and S. aureus with fresh herb oil (30 and 35 mm respectively) while dried herbs oil revealed a weak activity against these two strains (12 and 14 mm). These results demonstrated that the EO isolated from fresh P. chloranthus exhibited a potent antibacterial activity against S. pyogenes and S. aureus bacteria which was similar as 10 μg of gentamicin
Summary
Pituranthos chloranthus (Benth.) Hook (Apiaceae) is an endemic and aromatic plant, locally named “Aljène” which grows naturally in North Africa and is widespread in central and southern Tunisia. Stems of this plant have been traditionally used as straw for farmers to dry figs and grapes. This plant has a double advantage: first, How to cite this paper: Mighri, H., Sabri, K., Eljeni, H., Neffati, M. and Akrout, A. (2015) Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Pituranthos chloranthus (Benth.) Hook and Pituranthos tortuosus (Coss.) Maire Essential Oils from Southern Tunisia. Pituranthos species are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of asthma, rheumatism, postpartum care, spasms, pains, fevers, diabetes, lice (head and pubis), hepatitis, digestive difficulties, urinary infections and scorpion’s stings [1]
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