CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF MENTHA GATTEFOSSEI MAIRE ESSENTIAL OIL

The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical composition, the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil obtained from dried aerial parts of Mentha gattefossei Maire (Lamiaceae Family) cultivated in the Republic of Moldova. Mentha gattefossei essential oil (MgEO) was isolated by hydrodistillation and its chemical profile was evaluated by GC-MS and GC-FID analysis. The main compounds of MgEO were pulegone (57.36%), neomenthone (28.74%) and D-limonene (1.20%). MgEO exhibited good free radical scavenging activities (EC50 = 3.64 +/- 0.07 mu g/mL in DPPH assay and EC50 = 254.12 +/- 8.40 mu g/mL in ABTS(.+) assay) and it showed a weak reducing capacity. The essential oil possessed strong antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae (ATCC 49619) and it was moderate active against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923). This is the first report on the chemical composition and bioactivity of the essential oil from Mentha gattefossei cultivated in the Republic of Moldova.