article · Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy
Chemical characterisation and laboratory testing of essential oils from three traditional medicinal plants, Mentha suaveolens, Lavandula stoechas, and Ammi visnaga, highlight multiple therapeutic properties. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry identifies distinct dominant volatile constituents across the oils, notably fenchone and camphor in Lavandula stoechas, linalool in Ammi visnaga, and piperitenone oxide in Mentha suaveolens. In laboratory evaluations, all three oils demonstrated clear antimicrobial action against yeast and bacterial strains, displaying bactericidal and candidacidal efficacy with especially strong responses against Micrococcus luteus and Bacillus subtilis. Furthermore, the extracts inhibited the key carbohydrate-digesting enzymes alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase, which are linked to glucose regulation. The oils also showed consistent antioxidant capacities across radical scavenging and reduction assays. These findings validate traditional uses of the botanical sources and suggest that their constituent essential oils hold potential value as natural therapeutic agents.
Bacterial resistance, oxidative stress, and metabolic conditions such as diabetes present serious global health burdens. Validating the biological activities of traditionally used medicinal plants provides an evidence-based foundation for discovering natural drug alternatives. Demonstrating that these plant essential oils possess antimicrobial, antioxidant, and enzyme-inhibiting capabilities supports their potential role in informing future healthcare remedies derived from natural products.
This study represents early-stage laboratory research indicating that essential oils from these three plants could eventually serve as active ingredients in natural therapeutic formulations, functional products, or antimicrobial treatments. Pharmaceutical and natural health product developers could explore these volatile compounds for diabetes management or infection control. However, practical deployment remains at an early discovery stage, requiring in vivo validation, toxicological profiling, and formulation work before real-world commercial application.
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Mentha suaveolens, Lavandula stoechas, and Ammi visnaga are widely used in Moroccan folk medicine against several pathological disorders, including diabetes and infectious diseases. This work was designed to determine the chemical profile of M. suaveolens (MSEO), L. stoechas (LSEO), and A. visnaga (AVEO) essential oils and assess their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antidiabetic effects. The volatile components of LSEO, AVEO, and MSEO were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The in vitro antidiabetic activity was assessed using α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes, while DPPH, FRAP, and β-carotene/linoleic acid methods were used to determine the antioxidant capacity. The antimicrobial activities were investigated using disc diffusion and broth-microdilution assays. GC-MS investigation revealed that the main components were fenchone (29.77 %) and camphor (24.9 %) for LSEO, and linalool (38.29 %) for AVEO, while MSEO was mainly represented by piperitenone oxide (74.55 %). The results of the antimicrobial evaluation showed that all examined essential oils (EOs) had noticeable antimicrobial activity against both bacteria and yeast, especially Micrococcus luteus and Bacillus subtilis. The MIC, MBC, and MFC values were ranged from 0.015 % to 0.5 %. The MBC/MIC and MFC/MIC ratios were less than or equal to 4.0 % (v/v), indicating their noticeable bactericidal and candidacidal efficacy. Moreover, the three EOs showed significant inhibitory effects on α-amylase and α-glucosidase (p < 0.05). It also exerted remarkable activity on FRAP, β-carotene, and DPPH radicals. These findings demonstrated that the tested plants have promising biological activities, validating their ethnomedicinal value and providing potential applications as natural drugs.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114937
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