CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF ESSENTIAL OIL FROM Origanum vulgare L. IN DIFFERENT HABITATS

Abstract

Essential oils are widely used in beauty therapy, medicine and food industry, and they are considered to be a valuable consumer product. At the same time, the biochemical composition and properties of essential oils, including their antimicrobial activity, varies depending on the habitat, climatic conditions and plant chemotype. The purpose of our work is to study the qualitative and quantitative composition of essential oils and their antimicrobial properties, from Origanum vulgare plants harvested in eastern Slovakia and Lviv region, Ukraine. In the wild, O. vulgare L. were gathered in close vicinity of the village of Trostianets, Lviv region , Ukraine, in 2019. In Slovakia, the plants were grown by Agrokarpaty Company, Plavnica. Essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation (2 hours) in a Clevenger apparatus, according to the European pharmacopoeia. The analysis of the biochemical properties of essential oils extracted from plant populations from Lviv region , showed that the contents of essential oils were within 0.35 ± 0.05%. The composition of essential oils shows that O. vulgare L. plants from the natural population grown in Lviv region , belongs to the monoterpene chemotype. Monoterpene hydrocarbons -terpinene and -terpineol together accounted for 29–33%, acyclic monoterpenes — -myrcene — 7%, linalool — 4%, while the polyphenol compound p-cymene accoun ted for only 15%. The O. vulgare plants from Slovakia were characterised by the essential oil content of 0.15 to 0.50%, and the composition which allowed us to refer them to the carvacrol chemotype, with phenols as its main ingredients — carvacrol and thymol (together 71%), and isopropyltoluene (4.0%). Monoterpene hydrocarbons terpinene (5.0%) and terpineol alcohol (6.0%) jointly accounted for 11%; acyclic monoterpene mycrene — 3%; and sesquiterpene -caryophyllene — 4,5%. Essntial oil from O. vulgare harvested in Slovakia demonstrated high antimicrobial activity against reference and clinical isolates of opportunistic microorganisms. Essential oil from the samples gathered in Lviv region, showed low antimicrobial activity. Thus, it has been shown that the reviewed plants referred to different chemotypes, which calls forth the prospect of the use of essential oils extracted from different plant chemotypes for different purposes, depending upon their biochemical composition and properties.

Keywords

• oregano essential oil
• antimicrobial activity
• biochemical properties.