Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Essential Oils from Two Wild Algerian Medicinal Plants: Mentha pulegium L. and Lavandula stoechas L.

The aim of the present study was to determine the chemical composition, antioxidant andantimicrobial activities of Algerian Mentha pulegium L. and Lavandula stoechas L. essential oils (EOs). Theessential oils of M. pulegium and L. stoechas were obtained by hydrodistillation and their yields was 3.96 ± 0.12and 1.46 ± 0.06 % (v/w), respectively. GC-MS analyses allowed the identification of 27 components representing98.06 % of the total oil for M. pulegium, and 68 components representing 93.51 % of the total for L. steochas.The main components of M. pulegium EO were pulegone (81.04 %), piperitenone (13.60 %) and trans-p-mentha-8-en-3-one (1.35 %). Fenchone (50.29 %), camphor (14.02 %) and bornyl acetate (5.60 %) were the maincomponents of L. stoechas EO. The antioxidant activity of EOs was estimated by total antioxidant capacity,DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays, ferric-reducing power test and ?-carotene bleaching assay. BothEOs exhibited a moderate antioxidant activity compared to BHT, vitamin C and trolox. Antibacterial studiesshowed good activity against four Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillussubtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, as well as good inhibitory properties (MIC), suggestingthat Algerian M. pulegium and L. steochas EOs can be used in food and pharmaceutical industries as antimicrobialand preservative agents.