Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Volatile Oil of Mentha Viridis L. Growing in Sudan

Abstract

Abstract: Two samples of Mentha viridis var longifolia were collected in Khartom (central Sudan) and Nyala (Western Sudan) and were investigated for their volatile oils content, their physical and chemical properties, their antibacterial activity and their chemical composition.The two samples were distilled by steam distillation procedure to determine their oil content and it was found that the Khartoum sample contains more volatile oil than the Nyala Sample (1.82 and 1.56%) respectively. Physical and chemical properties of the volatile oils of the two samples were determined according to international standards and the results were in agreement with the literature. It was observed that physical parameters of the two samples were almost similar but the acid, ester and saponification values were different. The antibacterial activity of the oils of the two samples were close and moderate. Results of interest were obtained when the volatile oils of the two samples were subjected to GC-MS analysis. The major components as well as the minor ones were different qualitatively and quantitatively.The Khartoum sample contained can/one (46.26%),D-limonene (16.49 %) and dihydrocarveol (12.47 %) as the three major components, but the Nyala sample contained cis-carvone oxide (28.96 %) as the major component in addition to 5-isopropenyl-2-methyl-7-oxabicyclo [4.l.0] heptan-2-01 (16.58 %),2-ethylidene-6-methyl-3,5-heptadienal(16.25 %) and carveol acetate (11.40 %) as the other major components. It was also observed that the minor constituents were different in the two samples. These findings were reported for the first time in the present thesis and in support of effect of habitat and geographic location on the yield of volatile oils, their physical, chemical and biological properties, as well as their chemical composition.