Chemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. essential oil against some pathogenic bacteria

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry 9GC-MS) method. Twenty six components representing 97.6% of the total oil were identified. The major constituents were pulegone 934.4%), piperitenone 915.1%), 1-8-cineole 96.5%), neo-menthol 95.7%), menth-2-en-1-ol 95.3%), menthol 95.2%), carvacrol 95.1%) and menthone 94.5%). Antibacterial activity of the oil was tested against some human pathogenic bacteria. This oil showed good activity against all tested bacteria, except for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is possibly due to the high levels of pulegone in their compositions. However, the essential oil of Z. clinopodioides Lam. is a suitable plant drug against some human pathogenic bacteria.