Composition and antimicrobial activity of oleogumresin of Ferula gumosa Bioss. essential oil using Alamar Blue™

Abstract

Essential oils and their components are becoming increasingly popular as naturally occurring antimicrobial agents. In this work the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Ferula gumosa essential oils were determined. The essential oil components were identified by GC/MS analysis. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of essential oil against five selected pathogenic microorganisms was determined using micro-plate Alamar Blue™ assay (MABA). A total of 22 components have been identified in the oil, representing 97.1% of the total oil. The main group was monoterpene hydrocarbons (88.4%) including sabinene (40.1%), a-pinene (14.3%) and b-pinene (14.1%). This oil inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli (MIC=0.25µl/ml), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC=50 µl/ml) Staphylococcus aureus (MIC=3.125 µl/ml), Salmonella enteritidis (MIC=6.25 µl/ml) and Listeria monocytogenes (MIC=1.56 µl/ml). The tested gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive than the gram-negative bacteria. According to these results, it can be concluded that the essential oils of Ferula gumosa have suitable antimicrobial activity and can be used as natural preservatives in food industry.