Sclerorhachis platyrachis essential oil: Antioxidant power, total phenolic and flavonoid content and its antimicrobial activity on some Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria “in vitro”

Resistance of microbial strains to antibiotics and controlling food safety are two of greatest global problems. In this research phenolic content, flavonoids, antioxidant capacity and antibacterial properties of Sclerorhachis platyrachis essential oil were evaluated. Phenolic content and flavonoids of Sclerorhachis platyrachis essential oil were measured using Folin ciocalteu method and aluminum chloride colorimetric method respectively. Antioxidant capacity evaluated using DPPH, ABTS and β-carotene bleaching assay. Agar well diffusion, agar disk diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were used to evaluate antibacterial activity of essential oil against some pathogens. Results showed that total phenolic content and flavonoid of Sclerorhachis platyrachis were 55.63 mg GAE/g and 62.28 mg QE/g respectively. Antioxidant capacity using DPPH, ABTS and β-carotene bleaching assay were 52.39, 68.3 and 49.95 percent respectively. In disk diffusion method the highest and lowest zones were 16.2 and 9.7 mm, belonged to Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter aerogenes respectively. In all strains MBC was higher than MIC and Gram-negative bacteria were more resistant to essential oil. Sclerorhachis platyrachis essential oil showed favorable antibacterial and antioxidant capacity and its usage will inhibit growth of pathogenic bacteria.