Chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from Ccyphostemma adenocaule and Ziziphus spinachristi

In the present work, the chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant potencies of essential oils (EOs) extracted from the leaves and roots of Cyphostemma adenocaule and Ziziphus spinachristi were evaluated. Hydrodistillation was used to extract the EOs and the chemical compositions were analyzed by GC-MS. The antibacterial activity of the EOs were evaluated against four bacterial strains by agar disc diffusion method. Moreover, the antioxidant properties were evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay method. Perillyl alcohol (13.08%) and phytone (12.64%) were the major compounds detected in the leaves and roots of Cyphostemma adenocaule respectively. Whereas, nootkatone was the principal compound detected in the leaves (30.12%) and roots (26.52%) of Ziziphus spinachristi. The antibacterial activity results showed that, the EOs of Cyphostemma adenocaule and Ziziphus spinachristi displayed the highest inhibition zones against Streptococcus pyogenes (13.67 ± 0.34 and 12.67 ± 0.10 mm respectively) at 10 mg/mL. The antioxidant activity of the EOs were also promising, and the strongest IC50 value (4.15 µg/mL) was calculated for Ziziphus spinachristi (leaves). Thus, the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of the EOs enlighten the use of these plants for the aforementioned activities and as a common ingredients in cosmetic applications. KEY WORDS: Essential oils, Antibacterial activity, Antioxidant activity, Cyphostemma adenocaule, Ziziphus Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2024, 38(1), 167-186. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v38i1.13