Composition of essential oils of Menthaspecies and their antimicrobial activity against Aeromonasspp.

ABSTRACTThe chemical composition of the essential oils of Mentha arvensisand Mentha piperitaand their antimicrobial activity against twelve Aeromonasspp. isolates from tambaquis (Colossoma macropomum), an important native farmed fish species in Brazil, were evaluated. The oils were characterized using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and their antimicrobial activity was evaluated through the microdilution method. The essential oils of these Menthaspecies mainly comprised oxygenated monoterpenes (97.1% for M. arvensisand 86.2% for M. piperita) and menthol was the major compound of these oils (86.1% for M. arvensisand 33.8% for M. piperita). It was confirmed that these oils had antimicrobial activity against 12 isolates of Aeromonasspp., with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bacterial concentration (MBC) ranging from 1,250 to 16,666.7 μg mL−1. Better antimicrobial activity was achieved by the M. arvensisessential oil.