Ricerc@Sapienza

Since ancient times, plants have been used to preserve food, or for their health properties. Essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile compounds that are obtained from botanical material, specifically from aromatic plants. Lamiaceae is one of the most important families in the production of essential oils, as it has both antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The essential oils of Mentha (the Lamiaceae family) have been extensively studied for their biological actions. In this review, we report the antioxidant, antifungal, antibiofilm, and cytotoxic properties of Mentha spp.

The composition of the essential oils (EOs) of O. vulgare L. EO and T. vulgaris EO, were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Antifungal activities of the EOs and its main component, carvacrol, were evaluated against 27 clinical isolates of Malassezia furfur. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were measured according to the broth microdilution protocols by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) modified for Malassezia spp. EOs and carvacrol showed low MIC values ranged 450-900 μg/ml against M. furfur.

L’olio essenziale di Origanum vulgare e due principi attivi che lo caratterizzano, il carvacrolo e il timolo, possiedono proprietà antimicotiche e antibiofilm in particolare nei confronti dei funghi appartenenti al genere Candida. Queste interessanti attività potrebbero essere utilizzate come coadiuvante e/o in alternativa alle convezionali terapie farmacologiche.

Piper carpunya Ruiz & Pav. (Piperaceae) is a perennial aromatic shrub of Amazonian area of Ecuador and Peru, belonging to the ethnomedicine of these countries. The traditional preparations of the crude drug (fresh leaves used topically as is, and dried leaves in infusions or decoctions) are known for anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, antidiarrheal, antiparasitic effects, and wound healing properties. In light of this traditional evidence, chemical composition (GC-MS) and biological activity, i.e., antioxidant, antifungal (yeast) capacities, and genotoxicity, of Amazonian P.

The antifungal activity of Pelargonium capitatum essential oil (PCEO) and Cymbopogon martini essential oil (CMEO) against C.albicans were evaluated. The main components of essential oils were β-cytronellol 58.81% and geraniol 83.94% in PCEO and CMEO, respectively. PCEO was more activity than CMEO for all C.albicans strains tested with values MIC50 or MIC90 of 780 µg/ml. PCEO used in combination with fluconazole or CMEO shows synergistic effect with FICI values ≤ 0.5.

Bacterial biofilm plays a pivotal role in chronic Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection and

Stachys palustris, well-known as marsh woundwort, is a perennial herb growing in wet environments of Europe. Its tubers, leaves and seeds are eaten raw or cooked. Alike other Stachys species, the plant is also used as a traditional remedy. Despite S. palustris has been consumed for centuries, little is known about its chemical constituents. In this work the main secondary metabolites of S. palustris from Hungary and France have been analysed.

In spite of the growing interest in essential oils (EOs) and their commercial importance, it is not yet clear how development factors influence the plant material optimum harvesting period for EOs production. factors that determine the EOs' composition and yield are numerous, and in some cases, it is quite difficult to isolate them as many are interdependent and influenced by each other. Therefore, EOs chemical composition is subject to high quantitative and qualitative variations, as well as their related biological activities or properties.

A comprehensive study on essential oil and different solvent extracts of Sideritis romana L. subsp. purpurea (Tal. ex Benth.) Heywood (Lamiaceae) from Montenegro is reported. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the essential oil revealed a total of 43 components with bicyclogermacrene (23.8%), germacrene D (8%), (E)-caryophyllene (7.9%) and spathulenol (5.5%) as the major ones. Sesquiterpenoid group was found to be the most dominant one (64.8%), with 19.9% of the oxygenated forms.

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L., Apiaceae) is known for its antimicrobial activity and the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of its essential oil
(CDO) against multidrug resistant uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). CDO was able to inhibit the growth of UPEC strains and propidium iodide uptake,
and electron microscopy examination suggested that bacterial structural modifications occurred. The presence of CDO reduced the MIC of gentamicin. E.coli