Abstract
AbstractClinopodium ascendens (Jordan) Sampaio [synonyms = Calamintha ascendens Jordan = C. officinalis Moench ssp. ascendens (Jord.) Mateo = C. sylvatica Bromf. ssp. ascendens (Jord.) P.W. Ball] is a small herbaceous plant with a very strong and distinctive mint aroma. The plant is known for its medical uses in folk medicine and as a spice in Italian kitchens. In Madeira Island, Clinopodium ascendens, known locally as ‘neveda’, grows wild along the shady paths of the Laurissilva forest. The local population uses the leaves of calamint as a mouth freshener and to alleviate headache and toothache. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts of C. ascendens growing wild in Madeira was analysed by a combination of CC, GC, GC–MS, 1H‐ and 13C‐NMR. The oil was dominated by C3 oxygenated p‐menthane derivatives: cis‐isopulegone (75.2%), pulegone (6.9%), neoiso‐isopulegol (6.0%) and trans‐isopulegone (4.5%). The whole essential oil was tested against a variety of bacteria, both Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative, and two fungi; it exhibited remarkable activity against Escherichia coli and was active against Agrobacterium tumefasciens and Staphylococcus aureus and the phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea. It was ineffective against Streptococcus faecium, Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Highlights
The botanical name Calamintha officinalis Moench refers to a plant for which a herbal medical use has been recognized
Identification of the individual components was based on: (a) comparison of their GC retention indices (RI) on apolar and polar columns, determined relative to the retention times of a series of n-alkanes with linear interpolation (Target Compounds software of Perkin-Elmer) with those of authentic compounds or literature data; (b) computer matching with a laboratory-made mass spectral library and commercial libraries,[9,10] and comparison of spectra with literature data;[11,12,13] (c) comparison of the signals in the 13C-NMR spectra of all the fractions of chromatography with those of reference spectra compiled in the laboratory spectral library, with the help of a laboratory-made software.[14,15,16]
The essential oil and the fractions of chromatography were analysed by 13C-NMR spectroscopy, based on the pioneering work of Formacek and Kubeczka[17] and following a methodology developed and computerized in our laboratories.[14,15,16]
Summary
The botanical name Calamintha officinalis Moench refers to a plant for which a herbal medical use has been recognized. A few papers report on the chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of Calamintha sylvatica ssp.
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