Antibacterial and antimutagenic activitiy of extracts and essential oil from (Tunisian) Pistacia lentiscus

Abstract

Aqueous and flavonoid-enriched extract as well as essential oil (EO) obtained from leaves of Pistacia lentiscus were assessed for antibacterial and antimutagenic activities. Antibacterial activity of different extracts and EO were evaluated against six bacterial strains. A marked inhibitory effect was observed against Salmonella typhimurium, whereas lower activity was observed against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella enteritidis. EO showed significant inhibitory effects against Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus. The antimutagenic activity of the different extracts against Aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and sodium azide was demonstrated with the Salmonella typhymurium assay. The number of revertants per plate decreased significantly when the plant extracts were added to the assay system using Salmonella typhimurium TA100, TA98 and TA1535.

Keywords:

• Pistacia lentiscus
• antimicrobial activity
• Salmonella/microsomes test
• antimutagenic activity

Acknowledgement

We thank Professor Phillip Quillardet of the Pasteur Institut for a gift of Salmonella typhimurium strains.