[Biochemical and antimicrobial activities of salvia officinalis L. and mentha piperita L. essential oils]

Although antibiotics are used in conventional treatment of infectious diseases, a lot of unexpected side effects along with resistance to antibiotics appear. Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita are plants found abundantly in most parts of Iran. In the present study, we extracted and identified the chemical compounds of the essential oils of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita. Moreover, the anti-oxidative property, free radical scavenging capacity, and antimicrobial activities of the essential oils of these plants were studied. This study was conducted in the Biotechnology Department laboratories, Agricultural Faculty of Avicina University, Hamadan, Iran, in 2009. The aerial parts of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita were harvested in summer, when the plants were in their full blooming stage and dried in the shade. The essential oil of the aerial parts was extracted by hydrodistillation and was analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS method. The micro-organisms employed in this study were: E. coli, S. aureus, S. enteritidis, L. monocytogenes. By employing disc diffusion and tube dilution methods, antimicrobial effects of the oils were studied. Antioxidative property, free radical scavenging capacity, and antimicrobial activities of the oils were also studied. Chemical analysis of the extracts resulted in the identification of 28 and 37 compounds in the essential oils of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita respectively. The sensitivity of the bacteria to the oils in order of decreasing the sensitivity was L. monocytogenes, E. coli, S. aureus, and S. enteritidis. The antibacterial properties of the essential oil from Mentha piperita leaves were higher than the oil of Salvia officinalis leaves. Also inhibitions zones of microbial growth were not correlated with the microbicidal kinetics of the oils. This study showed that the herbal essences of Salvia officinalis and Mentha piperita are very active against E. coli, S. aureus, S. enteritidis and L. monocytogenes

[Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essence oil of peppermint [mentha piperita L]]

Peppermint [Mentha piperita L.] is a perennial herbaceous essence oil bearing plant which belongs to the Lamiaceae family. This plant is a valuable and important herb which has many therapeutic properties. Recent investigations have shown its excellent anti-irritable bowel syndrome effects. Other properties of this plant are anti-inflammatory, analgesic, promote menstrual flow, antipyretic, antiseptic and anti-rheumatoid effects. This investigation was conducted to study the antibacterial properties of peppermint essence oil, as well as determining the content and composition of essential oil. In order to study the effect of the antibacterial activity of the essence oil of peppermint, this experimental study was conducted in 2009 at Hamedan University of Medical Sciences. The aerial parts of the peppermint were harvested in summer when it was in the full blooming stage of the plant. The collected aerial parts were then dried in the shade. The essence oil of the aerial parts was extracted by hydro-distillation technique using Clevenger apparatus and was analyzed by the capillary GC and GC/MS method. Anti bacterial properties of the essence oil on four pathogenic bacteria were determined by using broth dilution and well diffusion agar methods. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS version 11.5 software, using the independent t-test. The essence oil of peppermint showed the maximum anti bacterial effect on E. coli and the minimum effect on S. aureus and P. aeuroginosa. The essence oil content of aerial parts was 0.69% [w/w] based on dry weight. The amount of menthol which is the main constituent of the oil and as an antiseptic component was 47.9%.Results of this study revealed that the essential oil of peppermint is rich in menthol and can be considered as an antibacterial agent in drug and food industries

[In vitro assessment of chlorohexidine and calcium hydroxide paste with chlorohexidine and saline solutions against E- feacalis]

The use of calcium hydroxide powder in saline as an intracanal drug is common. Recently, the use of chlorhexidine solution for irrigation due to its antibacterial property has increased significantly. The Purpose of this study was to compare the antimicrobial activity of calcium hydroxide combined with chlorhexidine gluconate against E-Feacalis and to compare the results with the calcium hydroxide mixed with saline and by chlorhexidine alone. In this study, 40 teeth with single canal were used. After removing the crown and preparation of the canal with step-back technique, the root canal was irrigated with EDTA solution to remove smear layer. Then, all the samples were sterilized in autoclave and the roots were infected with E faecalis and incubated. Subsequently, the roots were divided into 3 treatment groups. Group 1 was treated with calcium powder hydroxide in salin, group 2 with calcium hydroxide powder in chlorhexidine, and group 3 with chlorhexidine. All the samples were incubated for a period of one week at 37°C. Sampling was done by paper point. The microbiological samples were plated to count the colony-forming units and the level of CFU was assessed at the wavelength of 540 nm by photometer. The mean number of colonies in all the three groups was assessed by variance analysis, and turbidity and transparency of the samples were assessed via chi-squares [x[2]] test. The results showed that chlorhexidine gel was significantly more effective than calcium hydroxide with chlorhexidine, calcium hydroxide, and control saline solution [p = 0.06]. The results revealed that chlorhexidine gel has antibacterial effects against E-Feacalis. In fact, the study in the field showed that adding chlorhexidine to calcium hydroxide results in an increase in antibacterial effect of calcium hydroxide and reduces the antimicrobial effect of chlorhexidine