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Antioxidant properties of the essential oil of Eugenia caryophyllata and its antifungal activity against a large number of clinical Candida species
Author(s) -
Chaieb Kamel,
Zmantar Tarek,
Ksouri Riadh,
Hajlaoui Hafedh,
Mahdouani Kacem,
Abdelly Chedly,
Bakhrouf Amina
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
mycoses
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.13
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1439-0507
pISSN - 0933-7407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0507.2007.01391.x
Subject(s) - essential oil , butylated hydroxytoluene , eugenol , antioxidant , antifungal , chemistry , food science , traditional medicine , gas chromatography , chromatography , organic chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine
Summary Many essential oils are known to possess an antioxidant activity and antifungal properties and therefore they potentially act as antimycotic agents. Essential oil of clove ( Eugenia caryophyllata ) was isolated by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The antioxidant effect of the tested oil was evaluated by measuring its 2,2‐diphenyl‐l‐1‐picrylhydrazil radical scavenging ability and the antiradical dose required to cause a 50% inhibition (IC 50 ) was recorded. The antifungal activity of essential oils was evaluated against 53 human pathogenic yeasts using a disc paper diffusion method. Our results show that the major components present in the clove bund oil were eugenol (88.6%), eugenyl acetate (5.6%), β ‐caryophyllene (1.4%) and 2‐heptanone (0.9%). The tested essential oil exhibited a very strong radical scavenging activity (IC 50 = 0.2 μ g ml −1 ) when compared with the synthetic antioxidant (tert‐butylated hydroxytoluene, IC 50 = 11.5 μ g ml −1 ). On the other hand, this species displayed an important antifungal effect against the tested strains. It is clear that clove oil shows powerful antifungal activity; and it can be used as an easily accessible source of natural antioxidants and in pharmaceutical applications.