Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil and extract from Mentha longifolia against Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori infection is prevalent, affecting almost half of the world's population. Eradicating H. pylori with antibiotics is a global challenge due to medication resistance. Developing new treatment regimens is one of the most important tactics for combating medication resistance. Herbal treatments have attracted a lot of interest recently among the many H. pylori infection adjunct therapies. M. longifolia is an edible plant found in northern Iran; its leaves have traditionally been used to cure gastrointestinal ailments. This study aims to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) derived from M. longifolia leaves using GC-MS and assess the anti-H. pylori activity of the EO and methanolic extract using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) methods. Results showed that the main components of M. longifolia EO were cis-Piperitenone oxide (67.064%), piperitenone oxide (9.135%), L-Menthone (5.745%), Trans Caryophyllene (5.271%) and Eucalyptol (3.524%). M. longifolia EO exhibited the greatest anti-H. pylori activity (MIC=187 µg/mL), while the methanolic extract was (MIC=1500 µg/mL). The phytochemicals studied in this study have the potential to be utilized as adjuvant therapy with standard antibiotics against H. pylori.