ABSTRACT
The radical scavenging, antimicrobial, and antispasmodic activities and the composition of Origanum acutidens (Hand.-Mazz.) Ietswaart (Order Labiatte) essential oil were evaluated in vitro. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of the oil resulted in the identification of 20 compounds, representing 93.61% of the oil; carvacrol (65%) was the main component. The sample was also subjected to a screening for antioxidant activity by using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and beta-carotene/linoleic acid assays. The essential oil exhibited strong antioxidant activity. Using the agar disk diffusion method, antimicrobial activities of the essential oils were determined for nine microorganisms; antimicrobial activity was shown against eight of them. O. acutidens oil exhibited spontaneous contractions in rat ileum at the 100% level at 0.1 mg/mL level.
Subject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology , Antioxidants/analysis , Oils, Volatile/pharmacology , Origanum/chemistry , Parasympatholytics/pharmacology , Plant Oils/pharmacology , Animals , Anti-Infective Agents/analysis , Antioxidants/pharmacology , Bacteria/drug effects , Candida albicans/drug effects , Ileum/drug effects , Ileum/physiology , In Vitro Techniques , Male , Muscle Contraction/drug effects , Oils, Volatile/analysis , Parasympatholytics/analysis , Plant Oils/analysis , Rats , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
The radical scavenging and the spasmolitic activity of Cyclotrichium niveum essential oil were evaluated in vitro. It showed an IC(50) of 1750 microg/ml on DPPH method and dose dependently (0.1, 0.5 and 1 mg/ml) inhibits the contraction induced by carbachol on rabbit bladder from 15 to 100%. Moreover, it was able to inhibit the rat ileum muscle by 30 to 100%.
