Abstract
This study was performed to investigate the phytochemical profile, and the,
and,
antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the essential oil (EO) extracted from
. EO phytochemical screening was examined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The antioxidant potential,
, was assessed using reducing power(FRAP), free 2,2 diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and total antioxidant capacity tests. Antibacterial properties against two Gram (−) and two Gram (+) bacteria were assessed using the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the disc diffusion methods. By use of molecular docking, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of oregano EO were also tested. Thymol (75.53%) was the major compound among the nine compounds identified in the EO of
, followed by carvacrol (18.26%). Oregano EO showed an important antioxidant capacity, as tested by FRAP and DPPH assays, with EC
and IC
values of 13.300 ± 0.200 and 0.690 ± 0.062 mg/mL, respectively. The same EO has a total antioxidant capacity of 173.900 ± 7.231 mg AAE/g EO. The antibacterial results showed significant activity of
EO against all tested bacteria, especially against
(MIC = 0.25 mg/mL) and
(MIC = 0.06 mg/mL).
, carvacrol was the most active molecule against nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (2CDU) and
nucleoside diphosphate kinase (3Q8U) with a glide score of −6.082, and −6.039 kcal/mol, respectively. Regarding the inhibition of
beta-ketoacyl-[acyl carrier protein] synthase (1FJ4), piperitenone was the most active molecule with a glide score of −7.112 kcal/mol. In light of the results obtained, the EO of
Moroccan species can be used as promising natural food conservatives and an agent to fight antibiotic-resistant nosocomial microbes.