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Wild growing Origanum majorana L. var. tenuifolium Weston was collected from three different locations (Om1: Avtepe, Om2: Alevkayası, Om3: Kozanköy) in North Cyprus. The essential oils were hydrodistilled and chemical composition analyses were simultaneously performed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The average yields of essential oils were 5.46-8.14%. Major compounds of flowering Om1 oil were cis-sabinene hydrate (45.0%) and terpinen-4-ol (11.1%) while those of Om3 (Kozanköy) oil were cis-sabinene hydrate (33.3%), terpinen-4-ol (12.3%) and α-terpineol (11.5%). In the post-flowering stage, the major compounds for Om1 and Om3, respectively, were cis-sabinene hydrate (16.7% and 18.8%), terpinen-4-ol (18.1% and 14.5%) and α-terpineol (23.9% and 20.0%). However, the main compound of the essential oils of the flowering and post-flowering oil of Om2 was α-terpineol (76.9% and 51.6%). Statistical Principal Component (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analyses (HCA) tools demonstrated the composition variations of the essential oils at different times and locations. Om1 and Om3 (HCA similarity level: 98.98%) were similar while Om2 (HCA similarity level: 46.32%) was discordant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dracocephalum kotschyi and Origanum majorana hydrosols, as a beneficial by-product of steamed-distilled essential oil (EO), are consumed for treating fresh-cut broccoli. The effect of two independent variables, the concentration of hydrosols (50-100%) and the portion of Origanum majorana hydrosol to the sum of Dracocephalum kotschyi and Origanum majorana hydrosol (0-100%) on maintaining the quality of fresh-cut broccoli (content of moisture, L-ascorbic acid, and total phenolic components, antioxidant activity, textural and color features, and microbiological properties) after 14 days of storage at 4°C was assessed and modeled through response surface methodology. Origanum majorana hydrosol was effective in preserving the firmness, color, and ascorbic acid content of fresh-cut broccoli. Origanum majorana hydrosol was more efficient at reducing the mesophilic and fungal populations, while Dracocephalum kotschyi hydrosol was effective in controlling the psychrophilic and lactobacillus count. Increasing the concentration of hydrosols decreased the mesophilic count; however, it had no considerable effect on the psychrophilic, lactobacillus, and fungal populations of the product. Optimum levels of independent variables considering the microbial and physicochemical properties of the product were 47.9% portion of Origanum majorana hydrosol, 52.1% portion of Dracocephalum kotschyi hydrosol, and 73.93% concentration of hydrosols. A comparison of the optimal and control samples' characteristics revealed that treatment of fresh-cut broccoli with appropriate concentration and the portion of the hydrosols postponed the microbial spoilage and textural, colorimetric, and nutritional changes of fresh-cut broccoli during 20 days of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams. is the most important pine defoliator in the Mediterranean Basin and can cause serious growth losses on trees. At this point, the purpose of this study was to investigate the larvicidal effects of eight plant essential oils as biological control agents for the pine processionary moth. For this purpose, Artemisia vulgaris L., Juniperus drupacea Labill., Melissa officinalis L., Ocimum basilicum L., Origanum majorana L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Sideritis leptoclada O. Schwarz & P.H. Davis and Vitex agnus-castus L. essential oils were tested on the fourth/fifth larval periods of T. wilkinsoni. The essential oils from the eight plants were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC/MS. The most abundant compounds from each studied species were as follows: 1,8-cineole (20.68%) for R. officinalis, β-pinene (26.73%) for S. leptoclada, linalool (38.67%) for O. majorana, p-mentha-1,5-dien-8-ol (36.44%) for M. officinalis, eugenol acetate (38.78%) for O. basilicum, 1,8-cineole (22.10%) for V. agnus-castus, d-limonene (45.21%) for J. drupacea and trans-β-caryophyllene (21.22%) for A. vulgaris. The results show that all eight essential oils exhibited promising efficacy in a dose-dependent manner on T. wilkinsoni larvae after 24 hours. The highest larvicidal effect was obtained from J. drupacea, followed by O. basilicum, with LC50 values of 73.55 and 95.04 ppm, respectively. The data obtained from this study clearly indicate that J. drupacea and O. basilicum essential oils have the potential to have larvicidal effects and these findings point to the possibility of using the essential oil of the current species to control T. wilkinsoni. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) of Origanum floribundum Munby. by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and evaluated its antimicrobial activity. The compositional analysis identified 33 compounds representing 97.26% of the total composition, of which the majority component was carvacrol at 41.092%. The antimicrobial activity evaluated deduced that O. floribundum EO affects all tested strains, of which the most susceptible were Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans, with growth inhibition zones of 25.83 mm and 23.25 mm, respectively. A bactericidal effect was recorded on Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus at 1.56 mg/mL and 3.125 mg/mL EO, respectively, and a fungistatic effect on Candida albicans at 1.56 mg/mL of EO. The intestinal microbiota strains, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus LbRE-LSAS, were not affected by O. floribundum EO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Origanum compactum is one of the most important aromatic and medicinal species, widely used in Morocco for various therapeutic and culinary purposes. The present study was carried out to evaluate the agronomic behavior of the species over two years of cultivation (2015-2016) and to characterize the chemical compositions of cultivated accessions under Moroccan pedoclimatic conditions. The 88 investigated O. compactum accessions, are originating from different bioclimate and geographical zones, representing all areas where the species is growing in Morocco. Agronomic performances varied significantly according to genotypes and cropping year. The accessions showed satisfactory adaptation capacity to cropping. Higher essential oil (EO) yields were observed in the second crop year, and plants belonging to carvacrol and thymol chemotypes were the richest in oil. A chemical variation of cultivated plants was detected for samples dominated by p-cymene and/or γ-terpinene, where the percentages of these components decreased in the second year of cultivation against a significant increase in carvacrol and thymol content. However, most of the EOs compositions of plants rich in carvacrol, thymol and carvacryl methyl oxide conserved their composition after cultivation. The different associations found between chemical and agronomic characters would help breeders to develop improved O. compactum cultivars with desirable agronomic and chemical traits. O. compactum has great cultivation ability and therefore, it could be a promising alternative to ensure a sustainable utilization of this threatened medicinal and aromatic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural products have gained a great interest to fight against pathogens recently. In this study, essential oils of Origanum bilgeri, Origanum onites and Satureja spicigera leaves were obtained by steam distillation using Clevenger type apparatus and compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Antimicrobial activities of essential oils were carried out using the Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm), Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria (Xav) and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst). O. bilgeri essential oil has a significant effect on (100 %) all pathogens with dose dependence. O. onites essential oil has a great effect against Cmm and Xav bacteria with the dose of 7.5 μL. The S. spicigera essential oil has an inhibition effect on Cmm at a 7.5 μL dose. Moreover, this essential oil inhibited the Xav at 94 % at 10 μL. Consequently, the corresponding essential oils could be a natural pesticide candidate for the agricultural industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the changes in the essential oil contents of some Origanum hybrids grown at different carbon dioxide (400 and 800 ppm) levels in a fully automated carbon dioxide greenhouse. The chemical composition of essential oils was analyzed gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/MS). It was found that, among the Origanum hybrids, there were differences between the essential oil contents of those grown under natural conditions and controlled greenhouse conditions. While an increase in carbon dioxide level significantly increased the thymol and carvacrol components, which are among important monoterpene components, of Origanum syriacum x O. onites and O. syriacum x O. vulgare hybrids, whereas it led to a decrease in O. syriacum x O. majorona hybrid. To determine the effects on germination of Amaranthus palmeri S. Watson seeds under laboratory conditions, the essential oils were used at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 μl/petri doses. The most effective doses of essential oils for preventing the germination of A. palmeri seed were found to be 2 and 4 μl/petri. In preventing the germination of seeds, the most effective (100 %) application for all the essential oils was achieved with O. syriacum x O. onites hybrid grown at 800 ppm. These results show that the CO2 increases that may occur as a result of climate change in the next years may lead to changes in the content of essential oils in Origanum hybrids and may have the potential to be used as bio-herbicidal to prevent the germination of A palmeri. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Origanum vulgare L. is an important aromatic medicinal plant, which has many medicinal properties and is used in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. This study aims to evaluate the chemical composition and anti-microbial activities of essential oil extracted from aerial parts of a wild-growing O. vulgare L. The plant has been collected from the North-Western Himalayas region (Himachal Pradesh, India) and essential oil from its aerial part has been isolated through hydro-distillation. Gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis of the essential oil has been carried out to reveal its chemical composition. A total of twenty-four constituents have been identified, out of which eight constituents were different than reported in other studies, most probably due to geographical (height, temperature, soil, flora, and fauna) and geological (plants and animals) conditions. This essential oil has been dominated by oxygenated sesquiterpenes-38.08 %, followed by phenolic monoterpenoids-20.39 %, sesquiterpene hydrocarbon-14.4 %, monoterpene hydrocarbon-5.75 %, aliphatic alcohols-4.35 %, oxygenated monoterpene-3.99 %, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-2.55 %, and sesquiterpenoid alcohol-2.26 %. Caryophyllene oxide (38.08 %) and thymol (20.39 %) have been found as major chemical components of essential oil. Anti-microbial activity of essential oil of O. vulgare has shown the highest zone of inhibition against the fungus Aspergillus niger (14 mm) and lowest against the Gram +ve bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (6 mm) at 600 ppm concentration among the all tested strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methanolic extracts (MEs) and essential oils (EOs) of the aerial parts of two samples of the Algerian endemism Origanum floribundum Munby collected at the beginning of the leafing stage from two different sites were analyzed by RP-HPLC and by GC and GC/MS respectively. They have also been evaluated for their antioxidant activities by the reducing potential and scavenging of radicals DPPH• and ABTS•+. Although the two essential oils have in common p-cymene (60.7-73.4 %) as the most predominant compound, they showed several qualitative and quantitative differences. The MEs analysis identified ten compounds consisting of six phenolic acids and four flavonoids, the most important being rosmarinic acid, salysilic acid and vitexin. The EO and ME of the sample collected from Chrea (OFC) showed more efficient antioxidant activity than those of the Hammam Melouane sample (OFHM). This efficiency was related to the chemical composition of each sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to analyze the chemical composition of essential oils of dried aerial parts of five different specimens of Majorana syriaca (L. Rafi) grown in Jordan obtained by hydrodistillation using GC-FID and GC/MS. Also, in vitro antiproliferative activity of plant extracts against MCF-7, Caco-2 and Panc-1 cancer cell lines in addition to normal fibrocytes cells was assessed using MTT assay. Thirty three components were identified in the oil hydrodistilled from the tested specimens of M. syriaca amounting for an average of 94.0 % of oil content. Oxygenated monoterpenes predominated the volatile fractions with carvacrol (0.6-88.2 %) and/or thymol (0.9-70.3 %) as the principal constituents, p-cymene (2.1-14.5 %) and γ-terpinene (2.6-15.4 %) as major constituents. M. syriaca essential oils exhibited excellent in vitro antiproliferative activity against all tested cells. While water extracts were ineffective; M. syriaca ethanol extract showed significant activity only against MCF-7 (IC50 value= 6.96 μg/mL). Moreover, all extracts were safe on normal human fibrocytes. Based on the obtained results, ethanol extract and EO of M. syriaca may be advocated as candidates for breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancers management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant growth promoting bacteria are used as potential tools to enhance the growth and metabolism of different crops and aromatic plants. Bacillus SK1, Bacillus SK2, Serratia SK3, and Serratia SK1a were isolated from the wild plant; Origanum syriacum subsp. sinaicum and used in this study based on their compatibility with this plant. Furthermore, a pot experiment was designed to assess the effect of these isolates as well as Paenibacillus polymyxa (lab bacterial isolate) and gibberellic acid (GA3) on essential oil (EO) contents in Origanum. The harvested samples of Origanum were subjected to hydro-distillation, and the yielded oil was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Growth performance and biochemicals of treated Origanum plants were affected by various bacterial strains isolated from wild Origanum rather than P. polymxa or GA3. The EOs content increased in treated plants in the following order: Serratia SK1a > P. polymxa> Serratia SK3 > Bacillus SK2 > Bacillus SK1. Fifteen compounds were identified, where monoterpenes were a major class. Carvacrol, γ-terpinene, and p-cymene were the major components in all treatments. Carvacrol was enhanced by about 69.9 % in response to Serratia SK3. The present results indicated that EO of aromatic plants could be engineered as a response to bacterial inoculation, particularly those isolated from the wild habitat of the plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to highlight the effect of the extraction methods used on the chemical composition and evaluation of antimicrobial activity of the Origanum majorana Essential oil. Accordingly, three different extraction methods namely; Microwave-assisted extraction (MWE), hydro-distillation (HD) and steam distillation (SD) were used for O. majorana essential oils (EOs) extraction. There is variability in the chemical composition of essential oils obtained from the different extraction methods used. Overall, HD showed the highest % of oxygenated monoterpenes (66.8 %), while SD showed the highest % of monoterpene hydrocarbons (46.85 %). Oxygenated sesquiterpenes showed the lowest percentage of the EOs (3.6 % HD, 1.4 % MWE and 0.7 % SD). Terpinene-4-ol was the major components of O. majorana EO with different percentages 28.49 % HD, 22.28 % MWE and 26.72 % SD. EOs was tested for their antimicrobial activity against ten pathogenic microbes (fungi, yeast and bacteria). EOs extracted by SD method showed antimicrobial activities against all tested pathogens with variation degree. This result could be useful in designing the best extraction method. Key word: Microwave-assisted extraction, hydro-distillation, steam distillation, essential oil, antimicrobial activities and Origanum majorana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water deficit is one of the most important factors in reducing medicinal plants' yield. Origanum majorana L. grows in the some regions of world and it is cultivated for consumption and pharmaceutical purposes. In order to study the effects of methyl jasmonic acid (MeJA) on O. majorana L. under limited irrigation conditions, a factorial experiment was performed as a complete randomized design with three replications. Experimental factors including different limited irrigation conditions such as keeping the pots at field capacity during the experiment (control), irrigation pots in 75 % field capacity (mild limited irrigation), and irrigation plants in 50 % field capacity (moderate limited irrigation), and spraying treatments include 100 μM MeJA and control with water. At flowering stage, fresh weight, dry weight, and essential oil percentage (EO %) and yield, and essential oil composition were measured. Results indicated that moderate limited irrigation decreased plant weight and essential oil yield compared to the control. However, both mild and moderate limited irrigations increased EO % compared to the control. Foliar spray of MeJA improved growth parameters such as O. majorana L. fresh and dry weight just under mild limited irrigation conditions, while under moderate limited irrigation application of MeJA could not significantly change these parameters. Under mild limited irrigation conditions, MeJA causes significant reductions of 16.9 and 12.0 % in EO % and yield, respectively. Although limited irrigation did not have a significant effect on all of the O. majorana L. essential oil components, MeJA application changed O. majorana L. essential oil composition. With an increase in the limited irrigation level, MeJA application diminished the content of monoterpene hydrocarbons components from 20.56 to 18.21 % and increased oxygenated monoterpenes from 62.73 to 65.44 %. Results of this study revealed that MeJA could alleviate drought stress damages by stimulating oxygenated monoterpenes production and, therefore, could improve essential oil production under water stress conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essential oil of Origanum elongatum is known by numerous biological activities, which are linked to its chemical composition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of hydro-distillation time on the chemical composition and the antibacterial activity of the essential oil extracted from the aerial parts of O. elongatum growing in the north of Morocco. The essential oil fractions were captured at nine regular time intervals after the beginning of hydro-distillation process. Maximum essential oil yield was achieved at a hydro-distillation time of 140 min. The dissolved volatile fraction was extracted from the hydrosol at the end of hydro-distillation process. The chemical composition was determined by GC-FID and GC/MS. The chemical profile of the essential oil showed the predominance of oxygenated compounds (65.14%) followed by hydrocarbon compounds (28.02%). Thymol accounted for 63.44% of the total EO. Dissolved volatile fraction was dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes with 91.93% of thymol. The results revealed that hydrodistillation time produces oil fractions with specific chemical profiles. The antibacterial activity was tested against four bacterial strains. The results showed that essential oil fractions captured from 80 to 160 min had greater antibacterial activity than fractions recovered at the beginning of the distillation and the whole oil. The inhibitory zones diameters were linearly correlated with the increase of thymol concentration in each fraction up to 160 min (r-Pearson ranges between 0.95 and 0.97 with p < 0.0001). The strongest activity was observed with essential oil fractions from 141 to160 min of hydro-distillation time with MIC values ranged from 0.0312 to 0.125% (v/v) and MBC from 0.0312 to 0.25% (v/v). These data may help to reduce the cost and the time of essential oil extraction and to select the oil fraction with desirable composition for it use in pharmaceutical, cosmetic or food industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essential oils (EOs) obtained by hydro-distillation of stem and aerial parts ofOriganum majoranaLinn. (Lamiaceae) were respectively characterized by physical means and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The components were identified by comparison of their retention indices (RI) relative to C8-C23, n-alkanes sample. A total of 78 compounds were identified in the stem oil of which linalool and estragole were found as main components (41.31 % and 14.14 %, respectively). Whereas 87 compounds were found in oil from aerial part with also linalool and estragole as main components but at different percentages (45.05 % and 25.62 %, respectively). The comparative study showed that out of 87 compounds identified from aerial parts, 50 were found to be similar to that of stem oil but differ in percentage of constituents. The essential oil composition ofO. majoranavaries according to the different parts of the plant, its growth stage and also with respect to the geographical origin of the plant. This difference in chemical composition and in percentage of constituents between the two parts of the plant is (or could be) attributed to the difference in the anatomical features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the changes in essential oil content and composition of sweet- marjoram (Origanum majoranaL.) during post harvest drying / storage, an experiment was conducted in the hilly region of Uttarakhand. Drying of sweet-marjoram herb under shade and field conditions prior to distillation increased the essential oil recovery by 11.1 %. Altogether, twenty-seven constituents, representing 93.23-98.81 % of the total oil compositions were identified using GC/FID and GC/MS techniques. Major constituents of the oil werecis-sabinene hydrate (20.23-46.27 %), terpinen-4-ol (9.32-23.43 %), γ-terpinene (5.67-13.76 %), α-terpinene (2.98-8.38 %), sabinene (4.90-8.17 %),trans-sabinene hydrate (5.01-7.34 %) and α-terpineol (3.41-4.17 %). The amount ofcis-sabinene hydrate decreased on shade drying and subsequent storage under shade conditions (from 37.05 to 20.23 %); however, its content was improved on drying under space conditions (37.52-46.27 %) as compared to the fresh herb (37.05 %). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the antibacterial effect ofOriganum rotundifoliumBoiss’s essential oil was evaluated against 20 plant pathogenic bacteria. The essential oil (EO) ofO. rotundifoliumwas hydrodistillated from wildO. rotundifoliumplants that grown in Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Then, 10 chemical compounds of EO were identified via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main compounds were determined as thymol (40.86%-GC), carvacrol (43.62%),p-cymene (5.95%) and borneol (2.49%). According to the results of the study, the essential oil ofO. rotundifoliumexhibits considerable antibacterial effect against pathogenic bacteria that cause significantly crop loss. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Volatile components of marjoram (Origanum majoranaL.) essential oil obtained from the air-dried ground and unground herb, collected at full flowering (1st harvest), and from regrowth stems (2nd harvest) was analysed by GC-MS and GC-FID. The studied plants belong to thetrans-sabinene hydrate chemotype, and the average percentage of this compound was 49.12 %. The harvest of the herb at full flowering stage (July) allows to obtain an oil containing morecis-sabinene hydrate, sabinene as well ascis- andtrans- sabinene hydrate acetates than that obtained from the second harvest in October, from which we obtain, in turn, moretrans-sabinene hydrate, linalyl acetate, andE-caryophyllene in the oil. These modifications may be important for the practical application of marjoram essential oil and herbal raw material itself. The grinding of marjoram raw material should be considered to be a treatment that enhances the fragrance of the spice. The separation of low-value stems allows obtaining an oil with a higher proportion of sabinene andcis-sabinene hydrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical composition of essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from different organs (leaves and flowers) of Origanum vulgare ssp. gracile as an aromatic and medicinal plant from northwest of Iran, was separately analyzed and identified by GC and GC-MS. The results showed that essential oil content and composition of two organs were different. Essential oil contents were 1.44% and 2.44% for leaves and flowers, respectively. Twenty three components constituting 99.98% of leaf oil and eighteen components constituting 99.59% of flower oil were identified. The main constituents of leaf and flower oils were carvacrol (46.5% and 60.6%), β-terpinene (13.91% and 16.64%) and β-cymene (13.54% and 7.21%), respectively. Oxygenated monoterpenes (61.32% and 65.38%) and monoterpene hydrocarbons (30.81% and 29.4%) were the main classes of identified compounds in both organs oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanization of threshing and separation of Origanum onites is limited by practical constraints. In this study, we investigated the effects of moisture content on physical and mechanical properties of O. onites to be applied to the design of mechanized threshing and separation operations. Leaf, stalk and flower dimensions, projection area, picking force, leaf-to-stalk ratio, leaf-to-flower ratio, and essential oil content of O. onites were determined at three different moisture contents: 8.9%, 11.4%, and 15.0% (d.b). Most parameters increased linearly with increasing moisture content. The essential oil content of O. onites decreased with increasing moisture content. Moisture content had a significant effect on the physical and mechanical properties of O. onites. Flower picking force of O. onites varied between 3.630 and 4.050 N and Leaf picking force of O. onites varied between 0.375 and 0.974 N. Data on stem diameter are used for designing threshing and separation machinery, while data on flower projection area are required for effective transport, cleaning, and separation of O. onites. Moisture content of O. onites should be optimized to achieve ideal machinery design, as well as energy, power, and cost savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of oregano, sage and rosemary essential oils on lipid oxidation and color properties of minced beef during refrigerated storage for 10 days were investigated. Minced meats were divided into four treatment groups and were homogenized with 2% (w/w) of oregano essential oil, sage essential oil and rosemary essential oil separately. Samples in the control treatment had no essential oils added. The results of the present study show that adding essential oils protect minced beef against lipid oxidation and extend the shelf-life of minced meat during refrigerated storage. Oregano, rosemary and sage essential oil treatments demonstrate higher antioxidant activity and L* values when compared to control treatment. Oregano and sage treatment have lower oxidation of minced beef than rosemary and control treatment. Oregano essential oil showed the highest antioxidant activity, when compared to the control and the others groups. In conclusion, the best antioxidative effects were obtained from oregano essential oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, seven thyme species Origanum onites, O. vulgare var. hirtum, O. vulgare var. gracile, O. syriacum, Satureja hortensis, Thymbra spicata, and Thymus vulgaris were used. The essential oils of these plants were obtained by the hydrodistillation method. Antimicrobial activities of the essential oils against microorganisms, including multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria, were investigated using the disc diffusion method. All the essential oils used in this study were very effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, which included multiple resistant strains. All essential oils tested were especially very effective against Streptococcus pyogenes. The maximum antimicrobial activity was observed with the essential oils of S. hortensis. The antimicrobial activities of the essential oils varied depending on the species. In fact, the essential oils of some thyme species showed different levels of antimicrobial activities. The antioxidant activity results show that the percentage of inhibition values ranged from 28.32 to 94.55%. Among essential oils, O. vulgare var. gracile oil showed the lowest antioxidant capacity (28.32%), while S. hortensis showed the highest one (94.55%). Generally, the data suggest that different thyme species oil possesses useful antimicrobial and antioxidant properties and may be utilized in the food industry and as a dietary supplement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical composition of hydro distilled essential oil from Origanum acutidens (Hand. and Mazz.) Ietswaart was collected from Tunceli (Turkey) were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Essential oil and methanol extract of Origanum acutidens were tested against Yersinia ruckeri (ATCC 29473), Aeromonas hydrophila (ATCC 607920), Lactococcus garviae (ATCC 43921) Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213) fish pathogenic bacterial strains. The analysis of the essential oil of Origanum acutidens showed the presence of 6 components accounting for 93.8% of the total amount. Calvacrol (61.8%), p-cymene (15.5%) and thymol (12.7%) that possessed antimicrobial activity were found as the major component. The final concentrations of the methanol extract and the essential oil were determined by using disk diffusion assay. Mean inhibition zones of bacterial strains for Origanum acutidens essential oil varied from 28.0±1.2 and 36.7±0.7 mm. The inhibition zones of methanol extract (10 μL and 20 μL) of Origanum acutidens against bacterial strains were in the range 8.7±0.7 - 11.0±0.6 mm and 12.7±0.67 - 22.7±1.3 mm, respectively. Our results suggest that both the methanol extract and the essential oil of Origanum acutidens may be valuable as potential antibacterial agents against the major fish pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survey and collection was done during the year 2005 and 2006 to collect accessions and domesticate at experimental farm at Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Research Centre, Purara. A field experiment was conducted during 2005-2009 to evaluate the 18 accessions of Indian Oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) collected from western Himalaya region of Uttarakhand. All the accessions collected were screened for herb yield and essential oil yield. The highest herb yield was recorded in 'OV7' (926.40 gm) followed by 'OV4' and 'OV9' with 671.40 and 635.00 gm, respectively. The essential oil yield was found to be highest in accession 'OV7' (1.83 ml). The 'OV4' accession dominated by thymol as the major compound yielded 1.40 ml followed by 'OV9' with carvacrol as major compound yielding 1.26 ml. The result of the experiment evaluated accession 'OV7' for high herb and essential oil yield. While accessions 'OV4' and 'OV9' can be domesticated as high thymol and carvacrol rich lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sainfoin has little atention for plant tissue culture studies. However, genetic engineering applications of gene transfer can be done today. Therefore, first different methods are used in tissue culture (For example, using of different hormones for plant growing) and be given importance. In this study, the effect of different concentration (0-5-10-20-30 ppm) sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and Turkish oregano (Origanum onites L.) have profound effects on morphology of the tissues that grow from the initial sainfoin explant. The study was arranged in factorials with 6 replications and of variance was done using statistical analysis system (SAS) software. The data collected included the rate of seed germination, plant length, root number and root length. The highest seed germination, plant length and root length was obtained on sage volatile oil. Used both volatile oil reduced the germination ratio. Sage increased the plant and root length. Even so, Turkish orego significantly reduced plant length and is root number increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]