Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry Profile and In vitro Antimicrobial Potentials of Mentha piperita (Mint) Hexane Extract on some Food-borne pathogens

Abstract

Mint herbs have been reported to possess several biological effects, and the dried leaves are traditionally used for herbal tea or medicine. Extraction of plant materials was by maceration method. Both preliminary qualitative screening of phytochemicals and Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (LCMS) profiling revealed many useful metabolites. The phytochemicals include: Saponin, Carbohydrate, Alkaloids, Cardiac glycoside, and Steroid. Some LCMS compounds among others were also evaluated such as Quassin, Epioxylubimin, furocoumarinic acid glycoside and Dioctylamine. The antimicrobial activity of Mentha piperita extract against some food-borne pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Enterobacter spp. and Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated using agar well diffusion method at different concentrations ranging from 2000 µg/ml - 250µg/ml. The results revealed that hexane mint extracts had activity against the bacterial isolates. The highest activity was against E. coli (11.50 ±1.50) while the least activity was against Enterobacter spp (6.14 ± 0.13). The potential bioactive metabolites identified could be responsible for the antimicrobial activities observed. These findings have thus proven that Mentha piperita is more effective against E. coli. Therefore this extract could be used in the control and prevention of many food-borne pathogens and can be of importance in developing new biopreservatives.