Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Properties of Essential Oils of Pimpinella Anisum L. Growing in Morocco and Yemen

We report in this study the chemical composition and antibacterial activities of the seed’s essential oils of Pimpinella anisum L. collected from Morocco and Yemen. The hydro-distillation technique was used to extract their essential oils, followed by continuous liquid-liquid fractionation using water and ethyl acetate as solvent system. Obtained essential oils were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). GC and GC/MS results showed that 4-allylanisole was the major compound of Pimpinella anisum L. with percentages of 76.70 and 85.28% of Moroccan and Yemen, respectively, in addition to other minor compounds such as limonene (9.75% for Moroccan species and 5.53% for Yemen species) and fenchone (6.16% for Moroccan species and 4.12% for Yemen species). Furthermore, both essential oils were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against a panel of pathogenic microorganisms. The results showed that both essential oils inhibit most pathogenic bacteria tested.

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