Chemical compositions and antimicrobial activity of Prunella vulgaris L.

Abstract

The popular medicinal plant Prunella vulgaris L., (Lamiaceae) is a perennial and an edible herbaceous plant which is widely distributed in the temperate zone and tropical mountains of Europe and Asia. Due to its medicinal and industrial importance, the demand for P. vulgaris has increased steadily in recent years. In the present study, the volatile compounds of the P. vulgaris were accumulated by Headspace-Solid Phase Microextraction (HS-SPME) technique, and, analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The chemical composition of the methanolic extract (ME) and infusion (INF) of P. vulgaris were determined. Aerial parts of P. vulgaris INF of the major compounds were found hexanal (23.1%), ionol (10.7%), (Z)-3-hexenal (3.2%) and 3,5-octadien-2-one. The ME of P. vulgaris were characterized with α-fenchone (11.1%), hexanal (8.2%), 3,5-octadien-2-one (4.7%), methyl benzoate (4.5%) and selina-4,11-diene (3.1%). It was evaluated the antimicrobial activity of P. vulgaris extracts (ME, INF) in in vitro conditions against different kinds of microorganisms. The INF showed weak antimicrobial activity Minimum Inhibitor Concentration (MIC) against all tested microorganisms whereas ME showed weak antimicrobial effects E. coli, S. aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; S. pyogenes (20 mg / mL) and C. albicans (15 mg / mL).