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The present study was designed to investigate the protective effects of Thymus vulgaris essential oil against kidney and brain toxicity induced by an abamectin-based insecticide Voliam targo® (VT) in male rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). The extraction of the essential oil from T. vulgaris (TEO) by hydrodistillation allowed us to obtain an essential oil with a yield of 0.30 and the characterization of this essential oil by GC / MS indicates that the major component is carvacrol (86.25%). Twenty rabbits were randomly allocated to four equal groups and treated for 21 consecutive days: Control group, VT-group (4 mg ABA kg−1 body weight), TEO-group (0.5 mg kg−1 body weight), and VT + TEO-group (0.5 mg kg−1 body weight of TEO plus the same dose of VT). Our results revealed that the administration of VT resulted in a statistically significant (p < 0.05) increase in serum creatinine and uric acid levels as compared to the control group. Voliam targo® was found to induce histopathological alterations in the kidney, namely dilatation and congestion of blood vessels, dilatation of proximal and distal tubules and lymphocytes infiltration within the renal cortical interstitium. Furthermore, the subacute exposure to VT resulted in neurotoxic effects on the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus and the cerebellum of treated rabbits. However, co-administration of Thymus vulgaris essential oil significantly reversed renal function biomarkers to near normal levels and improved morphological changes of the kidney and brain tissues. The present results indicate that carvacrol-rich thyme essential oil exerts protective effects against VT-induced renal and neuro-toxicity.

The present investigation was designed to study the chemical composition of Algerian peppermint essential oil (PEO) as well as the in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory, wound-healing and anti-nociceptive properties. Twenty-three compounds were identified in the PEO with the main chemical component as menthol (53.29%). Also, PEO showed a high content of oxygenated monoterpene compounds (92.75%). Topical application of PEO at doses of 200 and 20 µL/kg significantly reduced the acute ear edema in 38.09% and 36.50, respectively. Histological observation confirmed that PEO inhibited the skin inflammatory response. In-vivo wound healing activity of the cream prepared from PEO (0.5% w/w) was assessed by circular excision wound model followed by histological examination. The topical administration of PEO cream showed a significant decrease of unhealed wound area rate between the 6th (1.67±0.14 mm2) and the 9th (0.49±0.22 mm2) days of treatment when compared with the vehicle (2.32±0.77 mm2; p2; p

Three different extraction methods were used for a comparative study of essential oil (EO) from fresh Citrus peels: Traditional hydrodistillation (HD), cold pressing (CP) and innovative microwave ‘dry’ distillation or microwave-accelerated distillation (MAD). The microwave process offers significant advantages over conventional alternatives, viz. shorter distillation period (30 min vs. 3 h for hydrodistillation and 1 h for cold pressing); better yields (0.24% vs. 0.21% for HD and 0.054% for CP); environmental impact (energy charge is noticeably superior for performing HD and for mechanical motors (CP) than that necessary for quick MAD assay); cleaner features (as no remains creation and no solvent or water used); raises antibacterial properties ; and offers a more precious EO (with high amounts of oxygenated compounds).Keywords: Microwave extraction; Hydrodistillation; Cold pressing; Essential oil; Citrus

Despite the reputation earned by aromatic and medicinal plants of Algeria, the chemical constituents of Eucalyptus globulus essential oil (EGEO) of Blida origin has not previously been investigated. Thus, the present study has been conducted for the determination of chemical constituents and different physico-chemical properties of the EGEO. Chemical composition of the EGEO, grown in Algeria, was analysed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The chemical components were identified on the basis of Retention Time and comparing with mass spectral database of standard compounds. Relative amounts of detected compounds were calculated on the basis of GC peak areas. Fresh leaves of E. globulus on steam distillation yielded 0.96 % (v/w) of essential oil whereas the analysis resulted in the identification of a total of 11 constituents, 1.8 cineole (85.8 %), α-pinene (7.2 %), and β-myrcene (1.5 %) being the main components. Other notable compounds identified in the oil were β-pinene, limonene, α-phellandrene, γ-terpinene, linalool, pinocarveol, terpinen-4-ol, and α-terpineol. The physical properties such as specific gravity, refractive index and optical rotation and the chemical properties such as saponification value, acid number and iodine number of the EGEO were examined. The oil extracted has been analyzed to have 1.4602 - 1.4623 refractive index value, 0.918 - 0.919 specific gravity (sp.gr.), +9 - +10 optical rotation that satisfy the standards stipulated by European Pharmacopeia. All the physical and chemical parameters were in the range indicated by the ISO standards. Our findings will help to access the quality of the Eucalyptus oil which is important in the production of high value essential oils that will help to improve the economic condition of the community as well as the nation.

Essential Oils (EO) produced by medicinal plants ha ve been traditionally used for respiratory tract infections and are used nowadays as ethical medicin es for colds. Although several studies of Eucalyptus Globulus Labill. Essential Oil (EGEO) have been reported, t here are no reports describing vapour activity of EGEO against bacterial respirato ry tract pathogens. The aim of this study was to te st the efficacy of the Algerian EGEO against some resp iratory tract pathogens by disc diffusion and vapour diffusion methods at different concentration s. Chemical composition of the EGEO was analysed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Fresh leaves of E. globulus on steam distillation yielded 0.96% (v/w) of essential oil whereas the an alysis resulted in the identification of a total of 11 constituents, 1.8 cineole (85.8%), α-pinene (7.2%) and β-myrcene (1.5%) being the main components. By disc diffusion method, EGEO showed potent antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive more than Gram-negative bacteria. The Diameter of Inhibi tion Zone (DIZ) varied from 69 mm to 75 mm for Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis (Gram +) and from 13 to 42 mm for Enterobacter sp and Escherichia coli (Gram-), respectively. However, the results obtain ed by both agar diffusion and vapour diffusion methods were different. Significan tly higher antibacterial activity was observed in t he vapour phase at lower concentrations. A. baumanii and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most susceptible strains to the oil vapour with DIZ vari ed from 38 to 42 mm . Therefore, smaller doses of EO in the vapour phase can be inhibitory to pathoge nic bacteria. Else, the DIZ increased with increase in concentration of the oil. There is growing evide nce that EGEO in vapour phase are effective antibacterial systems and appears worthy to be cons idered for practical uses in the treatment or preve ntion of patients with respiratory tract infections or as air decontaminants in hospital. The present study indicates that EGEO has considerable antimicrobial activity, deserving further investigation for clinical applic ations.

Hydro-Distillation (HD), Cold Pressing (CP) and Microwave Clevenger or microwave Accelerated Distillation (MAD) methods have been compared and evaluated for their efficiency in the extraction of essential oil (EO) from fresh Citrus peels. EO from peel of 4 varieties of Algerian sweet orange (C. sinensis), Lemons (C. limon), Citrons (C. medica), sour orange (C. aurantium), grapefruits (C. paradisi) and tangelos (C. deliciosa Ten C. tangerina Hort. ex Tan.) × (C. paradisi Macf.) were analysed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The EO chemical constituents were identified according to their mass spectra and Kováts retention indices determined on polar and non-polar stationary phase capillary columns. Citrus peel oils contained from 86.69 to 99.31% of monoterpenes with limonene reported to be the major component. The Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and the Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) have been undertaken in order to make a comparison between the three processes of extraction (MAD, HD and CP). The MAD offers significant advantages over traditional alternatives, namely; shorter distillation times (30 min. against 3 h for HD and 1 h for CP); improved yields; environmental impact (energy cost is fairly superior to perform HD and for mechanical motor (CP) than that required for rapid MAD extraction); cleaner features (as no residue generation and no water or solvent used) and provides a more valuable EO (with elevated quantities of oxygenated compounds). Hence, it provides also the ability for enhanced reproduction of natural fragrance of the EO from Citrus fruit.

Three different extraction methods were used for a comparative study of essential oil (EO) from fresh Citrus peels: Traditional hydrodistillation (HD), cold pressing (CP) and innovative microwave ‘dry’ distillation or microwave-accelerated distillation (MAD). The microwave process offers significant advantages over conventional alternatives, viz. shorter distillation period (30 min vs. 3 h for hydrodistillation and 1 h for cold pressing); better yields (0.24% vs. 0.21% for HD and 0.054% for CP); environmental impact (energy charge is noticeably superior for performing HD and for mechanical motors (CP) than that necessary for quick MAD assay); cleaner features (as no remains creation and no solvent or water used); raises antibacterial properties ; and offers a more precious EO (with high amounts of oxygenated compounds).