Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Activity and Antimicrobial Effect of Rosa damascena Mill. Essential Oil Against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi

Food preservation is an action or a method of maintaining foods at a desired level of properties or nature for their maximum benefits. In general, each step of handling, processing, storage, and distribution affects the characteristics of food, which may be desirable or undesirable. Thus, understanding the effects of each preservation method and handling procedure on foods is critical in food processing. In this study, the essential oil composition, antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity of Rosa damascena Mill. under Kashan (Isfahan province, Iran) were evaluated. The essential oil was obtained by hydro-distillation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed the presence of 19 compounds with the major constituents including Nonadecane (44.74%), 9-Nonadecane (16.91%), Eicosane (10.40%) and Heptadecane (6.17%). Antioxidant activity was examined by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assays. The results showed good free radical scavenging capacity and IC50 value (the concentration of inhibitor) of the essential oil was 3.91±0.4 μL/mL. The disc diffusion method was employed to measure the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was measured, by using the wells in which no growth was observed. The essential oil of the Rosa damascena Mill. exhibited antibacterial capacity against staphylococcus aureus 250, and for Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi with the MIC and MBC for staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi 500 and 1000 μL/mL, respectively. The obtained Rosa damascena Mill. essential oil is a promising source of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent for foods and cosmetics applications.