Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties and quantitative screening of phytochemicals of L. and Cham. mother tinctures.

The antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of L. and Cham. mother tinctures against a range of foodborne bacteria were investigated to determine the major components and to analyse the action spectrum and antimicrobial effectiveness of the extracts. Results demonstrated a significant antioxidant activity of L. and a lower activity of Cham. and a good chemical phenolic composition with the highest content of flavonoids. The L. and Cham. mother tinctures demonstrated a middle-high antimicrobial activity against, respectively, 66.67% and 43.33% of all tested bacteria. The inhibitory activity showed a moderate effect on the growth of the sensitive strains in presence of extracts minimum inhibitory concentration. The synergistic actions of bioactive compounds detected in the extracts might be on the basis of antioxidant and biological activities observed and should be used in pharmaceutical, food preservation, alternative medicine and natural therapies fields.