Gheisary Behnam, Ashrafi-Saeidlou Sanaz, Hassani Abbas, Fattahi Mohammad
Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
Soil and Water Research Department, West Azarbaijan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Urmia, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 23;15(1):26728. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-10814-4.
Essential oils (EOs) from aromatic and medicinal plants have antioxidant and antibacterial properties and are commonly used as preservatives in the food industry. Combining EOs can produce a synergistic effect, enabling their application as condiments at reduced dosages. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the combination of three EOs extracted from Sage (Salvia officinalis), Oregano (Origanum vulgare), and Cumin (Cuminum cyminum). This experiment involved a three-factor simplex lattice design comprising 14 experimental runs with three replications. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified carvacrol (39.54%) and γ-terpinene (23.22%) as the principal components of the EO from O. vulgare, while cumin aldehyde (24.24%) and lavandulyl acetate (19.56%) and γ-terpinene (18.78%) were dominant in the EO of C. cyminum; additionally, S. officinalis exhibited α-thujene (34.85%) and pinocarvone (18.44%) as its main constituents. The optimal conditions for the independent variables were established at 15.0553% for C. cyminum, 74.0453% for O. vulgare, and 10.90% for S. officinalis. These conditions resulted in notable increases in antioxidant activity, as demonstrated by a DPPH scavenging activity of 88.1% and a FRAP assay value of 11.3 μmol Fe(II)/g dry weight (DW). Additionally, the optimal conditions yielded significant inhibition zones against various bacterial strains, measuring 18.59 mm for Salmonella enterica, 22.97 mm for Escherichia coli, and 19.26 mm for Staphylococcus aureus. The predictive models showed high and statistically significant regression coefficients for all the parameters (p < 0.05). The measured parameters were in close agreement with the predicted values from the quadratic polynomial equation. Correlation analysis tools can effectively identify EOs' synergistic properties and predict active compounds' optimal characteristics. These findings confirm that the antioxidant and antibacterial activities are enhanced through the synergistic combination of EOs, underscoring their potential as effective natural preservatives in industrial applications.
来自芳香植物和药用植物的精油（EOs）具有抗氧化和抗菌特性，在食品工业中常用作防腐剂。将精油组合使用可产生协同效应，使其能够以较低剂量用作调味品。因此，本研究旨在评估从鼠尾草（Salvia officinalis）、牛至（Origanum vulgare）和孜然（Cuminum cyminum）中提取的三种精油组合的抗氧化和抗菌活性。本实验采用三因素单纯形格子设计，包括14次实验运行，每次运行重复三次。气相色谱 - 质谱联用（GC - MS）分析确定香芹酚（39.54%）和γ - 萜品烯（23.22%）是牛至精油的主要成分，而枯茗醛（24.24%）、乙酸薰衣草酯（19.56%）和γ - 萜品烯（18.78%）在孜然精油中占主导地位；此外，鼠尾草的主要成分是α - 侧柏烯（34.85%）和松樟酮（18.44%）。自变量的最佳条件确定为孜然15.0553%、牛至74.0453%、鼠尾草10.90%。这些条件导致抗氧化活性显著提高，通过DPPH清除活性为88.1%以及铁还原抗氧化能力（FRAP）测定值为11.3 μmol Fe(II)/g干重（DW）得以证明。此外，最佳条件对各种细菌菌株产生了显著的抑菌圈，肠炎沙门氏菌的抑菌圈为18.59 mm，大肠杆菌为22.97 mm，金黄色葡萄球菌为19.26 mm。预测模型对所有参数显示出高且具有统计学意义的回归系数（p < 0.05）。测量参数与二次多项式方程的预测值非常吻合。相关分析工具可以有效地识别精油的协同特性，并预测活性化合物的最佳特性。这些发现证实，通过精油的协同组合可增强抗氧化和抗菌活性，突出了它们在工业应用中作为有效天然防腐剂的潜力。
