Chemical composition and antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities of the flower oil of Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb from Tunisia

The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the flowers of Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb cultivated in Tunisia was determined by GC and GC/MS analysis. A total of 50 components representing 98.58% of the oil were identified: nonanal (35.75%), α-humulene (29.29%), acetaldehyde (7.84%), linalool (5,62%), myrcene (3.38%), tridecanal (2.21%), α-caryophyllene (1.79%), α-terpinyl acetate (1.46%), terpinolene (1.26%) and methyl anthranilate (1.06%) were found to be the major components. The oil was evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities using a microdilution assay against some bacteria and yeasts. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the essential oil varied between 0.625 and 5 mg mL-1 and the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were superior to 5 mg mL-1 of oil for most strains. The antioxidant potential of the essential oil was evaluated using the 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging method. The essential oil possesses good antioxidant properties (IC50 = 0.800 mg mL-1). The results may suggest that the flower oil of R. raetam possesses compounds with antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant capacities, and thus the oil can be explored as a natural preservative ingredient in food and/or pharmaceutical preparations. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.