Chemical Characterization of Essential Oils from Basil (Ocimum basilicum) and Spearmint (Mentha spicata) and Evaluation of their Antibacterial Effects on Selected Bacteria Species
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63359/sse4e890Keywords:
الزيوت العطرية لنبات الريحان والنعناع, التحليل الكروماتوغرافي الغازي-مطياف الكتلة, النشاط المضاد للبكتيرياAbstract
This study aimed to extract and analyze the essential oils of basil (Ocimum basilicum) and mint (Mentha spicata) using the steam distillation technique and to evaluate their antibacterial activity. The chemical composition of the essential oils was analyzed using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS), and their biological efficacy was assessed against the G-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and the G-negative bacterium Salmonella enterica using the disc diffusion method The results showed that the essential oil yield of mint was higher (4.8 g) than that of basil (3.6 g). GC–MS analysis revealed that basil essential oil was rich in compounds such as linalool and eugenol, whereas mint essential oil was characterized by high concentrations of menthol and menthone. Both essential oils exhibited antibacterial activity; however, basil oil demonstrated greater effectiveness against Staphylococcus aureus, while mint oil showed notable activity against Salmonella enterica. These results suggest that essential oils may be good natural sources of alternative and environmentally friendly antibiotics.
References
Asteggiano, A., Occhipinti, A., Capuzzo, A., Mecarelli, E., Aigotti, R., & Medana, C. (2021). Quali-quantitative characterization of volatile and non-volatile compounds in Protium heptaphyllum (Aubl.) Marchand resin by GC-MS validated method, GC-FID and HPLC-HRMS2. Molecules, 26(5), 1447. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26051447
Bakkali, F., Averbeck, S., Averbeck, D., & Idaomar, M. (2008). Biological effects of essential oils – A review. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 46(2), 446–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2007.09.106
Biltekin, S. N., Karadağ, A. E., Demirci, F., & Demirci, B. (2023). In vitro anti-inflammatory and anticancer evaluation of Mentha spicata L. and Matricaria chamomilla L. essential oils. ACS Omega, 8(19), 17143–17150. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c01501
Frolova, N., Gorbach, D., Ihling, C., Bilova, T., Orlova, A., Lukasheva, E., Fedoseeva, K., Dodueva, I., Lutova, L. A., & Frolov, A. (2025). Proteome and metabolome alterations in radish (Raphanus sativus L.) seedlings induced by inoculation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Biomolecules, 15(2), 290. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15020290
Gebauer, S., Pompermayer, K., Oliveira, D. G. P., Silva Pinto, F. G., Rosset, J., Bandeira, D. M., Silva, G. T., Oliveira, M. S., Silva, G. H., Alves, L. F. A., et al. (2024). Mentha spp. essential oils: Toxicity to Alphitobius diaperinus, activity against poultry pathogenic bacteria, and Beauveria bassiana compatibility. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31, 34010–34027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33484-7
Godlewska, K., Ronga, D., & Michalak, I. (2021). Plant extracts—Importance in sustainable agriculture. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 16(2), 1851. https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2021.1851
Grigoriadou, K., Cheilari, A., Dina, E., Alexandri, S., & Aligiannis, N. (2023). Medicinal and aromatic plants as a source of potential feed and food additives. In G. Arsenos & I. Giannenas (Eds.), Sustainable Use of Feed Additives in Livestock (pp. 117–135). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42855-5_6
Kalemba, D., & Kunicka, A. (2003). Antibacterial and antifungal properties of essential oils. Current Medicinal Chemistry, 10(10), 813–829. https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867033457719
Kamatou, G. P. P., Vermaak, I., Viljoen, A. M., & Lawrence, B. M. (2013). Menthol: A simple monoterpene with remarkable biological properties. Phytochemistry, 96, 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2013.08.005
Landeo-Villanueva, G. E., Salazar-Salvatierra, M. E., Ruiz-Quiroz, J. R., Zuta-Arriola, N., Jarama-Soto, B., Herrera-Calderon, O., & Pari-Olarte, J. B. (2023). Inhibitory activity of essential oils of Mentha spicata and Eucalyptus globulus on biofilms of Streptococcus mutans in an in vitro model. Antibiotics, 12(2), 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12020369
Maciel, E. V. S., Dos Santos, N. G. P., Medina, D. A. V., & Lanças, F. M. (2022). Electron ionization mass spectrometry: Quo vadis? Electrophoresis, 43(15), 1587–1600. doi.org/10.1002/elps.202100392
Masondo, N. A., Stafford, G. I., Aremu, A. O., & Makunga, N. P. (2019). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from southern African plants: An overview of ethnobotanical, pharmacological potential and phytochemical research including and beyond Alzheimer's disease treatment. South African Journal of Botany, 120, 39–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2018.09.011
Matei, B., Diguță, C. F., Matei, F., & Popa, O. (2020). Anti-microbial potential of kombucha bacterial biopolymer. Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, 24(1), 133–137. https://www.biotechnologyjournal.usamv.ro/pdf/2020/issue_1/Art18.pdf
Mishra, A., Gupta, P., Lal, R., & Dhawan, S. S. (2021). Assessing and integrating the transcriptome analysis with plant development, trichomes, and secondary metabolites yield potential in Mentha arvensis L. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 162, 517–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2021.03.009
Oliveira Filho, J. G., Duarte, L. G. R., Silva, Y. B. B., Milan, E. P., Santos, H. V., Moura, T. C., Bandini, V. P., Vitolano, L. E. S., Nobre, J. J. C., Moreira, C. T., et al. (2023). Novel approach for improving papaya fruit storage with carnauba wax nanoemulsion in combination with Syzygium aromaticum and Mentha spicata essential oils. Coatings, 13(5), 847. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings13050847
Osmolovskaya, N., Bilova, T., Gurina, A., Orlova, A., Vu, V. D., Sukhikh, S., Zhilkina, T., Frolova, N., Tarakhovskaya, E., Kamionskaya, A., et al. (2025). Metabolic responses of Amaranthus caudatus roots and leaves to zinc stress. Plants, 14(15), 2119. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14142119
Papadimitropoulos, M. E. P., Vasilopoulou, C. G., Maga-Nteve, C., & Klapa, M. I. (2018). Untargeted GC-MS metabolomics. In A. D'Alessandro (Ed.), High-Throughput Metabolomics: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 1738, pp. 133–147). Humana. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7643-0_9
Shumilina, J., Kiryushkin, A. S., Frolova, N., Mashkina, V., Ilina, E. L., Puchkova, V. A., Danko, K., Silinskaya, S., Serebryakov, E. B., Soboleva, A., et al. (2023). Integrative proteomics and metabolomics analysis reveals the role of small signaling peptide Rapid Alkalinization Factor 34 (RALF34) in cucumber roots. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(8), 7654. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24087654
Wang, Y. T., Yang, Y., Sun, X. L., & Ji, J. (2023). Development of a widely targeted metabolomics method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Chinese Journal of Chromatography, 41(6), 520–526. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1123.2022.10003
Wase, N., Abshire, N., & Obata, T. (2022). High-throughput profiling of metabolic phenotypes using high-resolution GC-MS. In T. Obata (Ed.), Metabolomics: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 2537, pp. 235–260). Humana. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2537-8_19
Yakob, H. K., Hamad, L. R., & Farhan, B. M. (2022). Isolation and diagnosis of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in meat and butcher tool surfaces in Baghdad. Microbiological Journal, 84(2), 40–46. https://doi.org/10.15407/microbiolj84.02.040
Yan, S., Bhawal, R., Yin, Z., Thannhauser, T. W., & Zhang, S. (2022). Recent advances in proteomics and metabolomics in plants. Molecular Horticulture, 2, 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43897-022-00038-9
Zahran, E. M., Abdelmohsen, U. R., Khalil, H. E., Desoukey, S. Y., Fouad, M. A., & Kamel, M. S. (2020). Diversity, phytochemical and medicinal potential of the genus Ocimum L. (Lamiaceae). Phytochemistry Reviews, 19(4), 907–953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-020-09690-9
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Libyan Journal of Ecological & Environmental Sciences and Technology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
