Determination of the chemical composition, antioxidant activity and the antimicrobial effect of Heracleum Lasiopetalum on infection and food poisoning microorganisms

In this study, the chemical compositions, total phenolic content, antioxidant power and the antimicrobial effect of Heracleum lasiopetalum essential oil on Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria innocua and Candida albicans were determined. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation. Its chemical composition was determined through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in comparison with standard mass spectra. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu and DPPH scavenging methods. The essential oil antimicrobial activity was quantified by disk diffusion, well diffusion agar, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentration methods. Eucalyptol was the major constituent of the essential oil with a percentage of 30.75. The total phenolic content and antioxidant power of the essential oil were 35/44±0.95 mg GAE/g and 24.20±1.60 mg/ml respectively. The antimicrobial activity based on disk diffusion and agar well showed that Candida albicans was the most sensitive species to the essential oil. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the essential oil was equal to 16, 16, 4, 8 and 4 mg/ml for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria innocua and Candida albicans respectively. The results of the bactericidal and fungicidal concentrations were totally equal to or higher than those of the minimum inhibitory concentration. The results revealed that Heracleum Lasiopetalum essential oil has appropriate antioxidant power and is able to control the growth of foodborne pathogens and can be utilized as a natural preservative in food industry.