Mentha mozaffarianii Jamzad: Assessment of the Volatile Constituents, Antioxidant and Antifungal Activities

Mentha mozaffarianii Jamzad (Lamiaceae family) is one of the endemic specimens from the southern parts of Iran. This study focuses on powder microscopy, analyzing and identifying the plant's chemical constituents of essential oil. Besides, antifungal, antioxidant, and radical savaging activities of this herb as well as two Mentha spicata L. samples (apothecary and farmland), were studied based on standard methods. The essential oil was extracted via column chromatography and silica gel using petroleum ether and diethyl ether as solvent systems. Chemical constituents of M. mozaffarianii essential oil and other sample were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial effects of the essential oils against fungal and bacterial agents were determined by the broth microdilution method based on CLSI protocol. The oil analysis of M. mozaffarianii showed piperitenone (30.12%), piperitone (25.81%), piperitone-oxide (10.29%), linalool (6%), and cineol (5.34%) as the main constituents. The major constituents in the apothecary sample included carvone (9.44%) and limonene (22.27%). The main compounds of the farmland sample were carvone (31.41%) and limonene (13.38%). Carvone and limonene were similar in both apothecary and farmland samples. The results also indicated the antifungal activity for all samples. The antimicrobial effect may be due to the presence of phenolic rings in the structure of these compounds. No antioxidant activity was observed for any of the species. Powder microscopy showed slight differences between M. mozaffarianii and other samples. These differences were differentiable. It seems that M. mozaffarianii compounds can be used as a new antimicrobial compound to treat fungal infections.