Polyphenolic contents, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities of Saccocalyx satureioides Coss. & Dur. essential oil and methanol extracts.

The whole plant Saccocalyx satureioides, an endemic medicinal plant in Algeria, was evaluated for its polyphenolic contents, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The polyphenolic contents of the plant methanolic extracts ranged from 170.47 to 285.56 (µg GAEs/mg extract) and from 25.39 to 82.68 (µg QEs/mg extract), respectively. High antioxidant activity was registered: DPPH average IC50 = 14.68 µg/mL, and β-carotene average IC50 = 21.08 µg/mL. The essential oil and methanolic extracts from the aerial parts and roots were tested against bacteria and molds. Different methods, including disk diffusion, well diffusion, and microdilution tests for bacteria, were used. The essential oil (February and June harvest periods) value 1.25 µL/mL was the MIC and the MBC for all bacterial strains, except E. coli, K. pneumonia and Ps. aeruginosa. The average fungal inhibition of the methanol extracts ranged from 5.10 to 71.25%, except for F. oxysporum. The essential oil effect was 6.67-83.53% and 17.01-90.57% by the food poisoned and fumigation methods, respectively. The preliminary phytochemical evaluation demonstrated the high polyphenolic contents and effective antioxidant power of the plant extracts. This may have an essential role in the antimicrobial effectiveness and indicate that the plant contains high-quality bioactive molecules in addition to the essential oil.