Abstract
Oliveria decumbens (Apiaceae) is an aromatic herb traditionally employed in the Persian medicine for the treatment of infectious and gastrointestinal disorders. In the present study, we analyzed the chemical composition of essential oils obtained from different Iranian populations and evaluated their efficacy on a panel of human pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli), probiotic (Bacillus subtilis), and phytopathogens (Clavibacter michiganensis, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Xanthomonas citri, and Agrobacterium tumefaciens). The gas chromatographic-mass spectrometry analysis put in evidence four main volatile constituents such as thymol (20.3–36.4%), carvacrol (18.8–33.1%), γ-terpinene (10.6–25.9%), and p-cymene (9.5–17.3%), though with significant variability from an essential oil to another. Notably, the oils from the populations sited in Nourabad Mamasani and Dehdasht showed the highest amount of the phenolic monoterpenes thymol (36.4 and 35.2%, respectively) and carvacrol (33.1 and 30.6%, respectively). The antibacterial activity of O. decumbens essential oils was assessed by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) methods, showing high activity for the samples from Nourabad Mamasani and Dehdasht populations exhibiting high level of the above phenolics. The obtained MIC and MBC values (mg/ml) were in the ranges 0.0625–2 mg/ml and 1–16 mg/ml, respectively. Noteworthy, in some cases, the antibacterial activity of O. decumbens essential oils was higher than that of chloramphenicol used as positive control. The average MBCs displayed by the O. decumbens samples showed that C. flaccumfaciens had the highest sensitivity to the essential oils. Based on these results, our work shed light on selected O. decumbens populations deserving proper breeding and cultivation strategies in order to warrantee production of bioactive essential oils to be used at pharmaceutical and agricultural level to combat several pathogens.
Highlights
Oliveria decumbens Vent., belonging to the Apiaceae family, is an annual, aromatic herb, endemic to southern and western parts of Iran [1]
The average minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) displayed by the O. decumbens samples showed that C. flaccumfaciens had the highest sensitivity to the essential oils
The present study was aimed to investigate the chemical variability of essential oils in O. decumbens growing in different Iranian regions and to evaluate its effect on the antibacterial activity exerted on different bacterial strains of human pathogens and phytopathogens
Summary
Oliveria decumbens Vent., belonging to the Apiaceae family, is an annual, aromatic herb, endemic to southern and western parts of Iran [1]. Essential oils are natural sources of volatile, lipophilic mixtures of several dozens of compounds which are able to interact with the cell wall, increasing its permeability, or disrupting the energy production system of the cells They exert an important inhibition of trans-membrane and cytosol enzymes as well as anti-quorum sensing activity [10,11,12]. Considering the development of bacterial resistance to chemical antibiotics and their adverse effects on the environment and public health, there is a growing demand to replace them with plant-based derivatives or combine these green agents with antibiotics to give synergistic effects [26,27,28,29]. The present study was aimed to investigate the chemical variability of essential oils in O. decumbens growing in different Iranian regions and to evaluate its effect on the antibacterial activity exerted on different bacterial strains of human pathogens and phytopathogens
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