CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF ZHUMERIA MAJDAE RESH. F.& WENDELBO

Zhumeria majdae Resh. f.& Wendelbo. (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant which has long been used in traditional medicine as antispasmodic, antimicrobial, carminative especially in infants and for dysmenorrheal. The therapeutic benefits of medicinal plants are often attributed to their antioxidant properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant properties of essential oil and various extracts of Zhumeria majdae Resh. f & Wendelbo. The GC and GC–MS analysis of the essential oil were resulted in the determination of 26 components representing 97.2% of the oil. Linalool (53.28%) and camphor (26.15%) were the main components. The essential oil has exhibited antibacterial activity against all tested bacteria. Antioxidant activities of the samples were determined DPPH and β-carotene/linoleic acid methods.  The essential oil and methanol extract reduced the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl  (DPPH) with an IC50 of  20.5 ± 1.6 and 26.1 ± 1.5 respectively. In the latter method, the methanol extract and essential oil have shown the most activity with 25.8 and 19.2 mm mean zone of color retention respectively. The amount of the total phenolics was highest in methanol extract (50.1 ± 2.3μg/mg). A positive correlation was observed between the antioxidant activity potential and total phenolic level of the extracts. Results here show that the essential oil and methanol extract of Z. majdae possess antioxidant and antibacterial activity, and could be used as natural preservative in food and /or pharmaceutical industries. The other extracts have exhibited no activity.