Characterization, Chemical Compounds and Biological Activities of Marrubium vulgare L. Essential Oi

Abstract

As consumer trends shift towards more natural and ecological consumption patterns,industrialists are actively working towards substituting synthetic chemicals with natural and veganproducts that contain bioactive properties. Thus, considering the shifts in customer demand andthe growing concern around vegetable sourced productions, this work aims to contribute to thevalorization of aromatic and medicinal Moroccan plants. By focusing on the Marrubium vulgare L.species, our objective is to carry out a physicochemical characterization to determine its chemicalcomposition and biological activities. The volatile fraction collected by hydrodistillation (0.61%)and analyzed by GC-MS (gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry) contains five maincompounds: 3-Thujanone, Eugenol, Topanol, Menthone and Piperitone. The antioxidant activityhas been estimated by applying the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavengingtest and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The values of inhibitory concentration provethat our oil is a good antioxidant, with values of IC50 = 1.136 mg/mL and IC50 = 2.998 mg/mL,respectively, for the DPPH and FRAP tests. The results of the antifungal activity indicate a significantinhibition of mycelial growth for both tested molds, as well as a total inhibition of spore productionat a concentration of 0.25 μL/mL.