ISSN 2326-7267
International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology ISSN 2326-7267 Vol. 13 (8), pp. 001-007, August, 2024. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Chemical Composition and Antifungal Properties of Mentha piperita Essential Oil: Insights from Capillary Gas Chromatography Analysis
M. Moghtader
Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran.
Accepted 22 July, 2024
Abstract
The antifungal activity of Mentha piperita L. essential oil and its comparison with synthetic menthol on Aspergillus niger growth have been determined in vitro. The chemical compositions of essential oil of M. piperita provided from the aerial parts of plants grown in a village in Kerman Province in June 2012 were determined. The sample was cleaned and then dried in the shade. Essential oil was made by hydro-distillation method and analyzed by capillary gas chromatography (GC) using flame ionization (FID) and capillary gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main oil content from the plants of M. piperita was 3.26% (v/w). Twenty three (23) compounds were identified in the essential oil of M. piperita, making 96.25% of the total oil. The major components were menthol (38.33%), menthone (21.45%) and menthyl acetate (12.49%). For study of antifungal activity, the essential oil was tested against A. niger (strain PTCC = 5223) by disc diffusion method via average inhibition zone. The results showed that essential oil from M. piperita at 1 and 1/2 oil dilutions exhibited a strong antifungal activity than gentamycin (8 mg/ml) antibiotic on A. niger and exhibited a strong synthetic menthol at 10% dilution. The relative high amount of menthol and menthone in the M. piperita essential oil showed that they could display antifungal activity.
Key words: Mentha piperita L., Aspergillus niger, menthol, antifungal activity.