; Essentials oils of Mentha spp. And their relation with antimicrobial against Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American fouldbrood in honey bees, by using the bioautography technique

GENDE L.,; MENDIARA,S; FERNANDEZ, NJ; VAN BAREN C; DI LEO LIRA, A; BANDONI,A; FRITZ,R; EGUARAS M

BULLETIN OF INSECTOLOGY

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM, UNIV BOLOGNA

Lugar: Bologna; Año: 2014 vol. 67 p. 13 - 20

1721-8861

Essential oils of three mint species (Mentha aff. arvensis, Mentha aff. rotundifolia and a probably feral hybrid of Mentha spp.) were investigated for their antimicrobial properties against Paenibacillus larvae (White). The bioactivity of the oils was compared using the combination of in vitro techniques such as microdilution, agar dilution and bioautography. The chemical composition of the oils was analyzed by GC/MS. Using the bioautography assay, menthol, menthone, menthofuran and piperitone oxide were found to be responsible for the antimicrobial activity of these oils. A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model was developed for four terpenoids with significant antimicrobial activity using Hyperchem 8.0 and Gaussian 03 software. The QSAR approach leads to a better understanding of the structural properties of these terpenoids which are responsible for bioactiv-ity. The present work reports the first systematic study about the use of QSAR properties to correlate antimicrobial activity of natural substances against P. larvae.