This present study aims to characterize the essential oil compositions of the aerial parts of M. spicata L. and endemic M. longifolia ssp. cyprica (Heinr. Braun) Harley by using GC-FID and GC/MS analyses simultaneously. In addition, it aims to perform multivariate statistical analysis by comparing with the existing literature, emphasizing the literature published within the last two decades, conducted on both species growing within the Mediterranean Basin. The major essential oil components of M. spicata were determined as carvone (67.8%) and limonene (10.6%), while the major compounds of M. longifolia ssp. cyprica essential oil were pulegone (64.8%) and 1,8-cineole (10.0%). As a result of statistical analysis, three clades were determined for M. spicata: a carvone-rich chemotype, a carvone/trans-carveol chemotype, and a pulegone/menthone chemotype, with the present study result belonging to the carvone-rich chemotype. Carvone was a primary determinant of chemotype, along with menthone, pulegone, and trans-carveol. In M. longifolia, the primary determinants of chemotype were identified as pulegone and menthone, with three chemotype clades being pulegone-rich, combined menthone/pulegone, and combined menthone/pulegone with caryophyllene enrichment. The primary determinants of chemotype were menthone, pulegone, and caryophyllene. The present study result belongs to pulegone-rich chemotype.

Non-polar and polar compounds were isolated from the leaves and chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of Sideritis cypria endemic in Northern Cyprus was also determined. The structures of all the isolated compounds were elucidated by means of spectroscopic (UV, NMR: 1D and 2D-NMR: 1H, 13C, COSY, HSQC, HMBC) methods and comparison with literature data. The essential oil composition of the plant material was analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS, simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, secondary metabolites of this endemic species were determined for the first time. As a result, two mixtures of four ent-kaurane diterpenes; sidol (1) and isosidol (2), linearol (3) and isolinearol (4); four phenylethanoid glycosides; verbascoside (5), lavandulifolioside (6), leonoside A (7), leucoseptoside A (8); four flavone glycosides, apigenin-7-O-glucopyranoside (9), isoscutellarein-7-O-[6'''-O-acetyl-allopyranosyl-(1->2)-glucopyranoside] (10) and a mixture of apigenin-7-O-(4''-O-p-coumaroyl)-glucopyranoside (11) and apigenin-7-O-(3''-O-p-coumaroyl)-glucopyranoside (12) were elucidated. 7-O-acetyl-8-epi-loganic acid (13), an iridoid glycoside, was reported herein for the first time for genus Sideritis. In addition, major compounds of the essential oil were determined as a-pinene (14.73±0.15%), b-pinene (16.60±0.20%), b-phellandrene (17.83±0.23%) and epi-cubebol (7.70±0.20%), respectively.

Background: Calcium hydroxide is a routinely used material for root canal disinfection during root canal treatment. Natural products have great potential in terms of their antibacterial effects. This study aimed to establish an effective alternative intracanal medicament using Origanum dubium (O. dubium) and Mentha spicata (M. spicata) essential oils. Materials and Methods: O. dubium and M. spicata, collected from Lefke, Cyprus, were separately subjected to hydrodistillation. The obtained essential oil compositions were analysed simultaneously by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The compositions were then divided into groups and mixed with calcium hydroxide at a 1:1 concentration; after that, the pastes were tested on Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) and Candida albicans (C. albicans), which are the most common resistant pathogenic microorganisms in the root canal. The antibacterial activity of the pastes was measured using a disk diffusion assay. Results: The GC and GC-MS analyses revealed that O. dubium and M. spicata had major compositions of carvacrol (75.8%) and carvone (71.3%), respectively. Antimicrobial activity was found to be significantly higher when study groups with O. dubium essential oil were applied to both E. faecalis and C. albicans. The results also show that M. spicata, together with calcium hydroxide, demonstrated a significant antifungal effect on C. albicans when incubated for 72 h. Conclusions: M. spicata was found to be an effective antimicrobial agent on C. albicans, whereas O. dubium was found to be very effective on both E. faecalis and C. albicans. These data demonstrate that these natural essential oils may be promising candidates for alternative intracanal medicament in future routine clinical applications.

In this study the volatile oils constituents of the inflorescence and unripe fruits of Crataegus azarolus L. and Crataegus pallasii Grisb. were investigated. Fifty-four compounds were identified by GC and GC-MS analysis. The major outstanding constituents of the essential oil in all samples (dried and fresh C. azarolus and dried C. pallasii) were; tricosane (33.8%, 29.3%, 34.0 %), pentacosane (24.6%, 21.1%, 30.8%), heptacosane (12.5%, 10.2%, 11.7%), and tetracosane (6.0%, 5.6%, 5.7%), respectively. Besides these alkanes, ten compounds (nonanal, β-elemene, undecanal, β-caryophyllene, (E, E)-α-farnesene, eicosane, hexyl benzoate, (Z)-3-hexenyl benzoate, (E)-2-hexenyl benzoate, docasane) were determined in all samples. Carvacrol, carvacryl acetate, carvone, and thymol were determined for the first time from C. pallasii essential oil. (E)-β-damascenone was determined only in dried C. azarolus oil; sesquiterpene compounds valencene, α-selinene and β-selinene, d-cadinene, germacrene D, selina-3,7(11)-diene, spathulenol, and d-cadinol were determined only in fresh C. azarolus sample. On the other hand (2E,6E)-farnesol was determined in dried C. azarolus and C. pallasii samples.rnrn

In this study, chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Sideritis cypria, which is an endemic taxon in Northern Cyprus, were investigated. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In general, the GC and GC-MS analysis illustrated that fifty compounds were identified representing 96.9% of the oil. Major components were epi-cubebol (11.9%), trans-piperitol (8.9%) and pinene (8.1%), respectively. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was tested by disc diffusion method against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Bacillus cereus (ATCC 10876), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) bacteria and Candida albicans (ATCC 90028) yeast. The results showed that the inhibition zone of S. cypria essential oil against C. albicans at maximum dose (10 μl) was higher than positive control Nystatin. The oil showed similar inhibitory zone to that of the positive control (TMP-SMX) against B. cereus at maximum dosage 10 μl. In addition, the inhibitory effect of the oil against E. coli measured only at the 10 μl as 10.33 ± 0.58. Furthermore, the inhibition zones against S. aureus was ranged from 9.00 ± 2.00 to 24.00 ± 1.73 while P. aeruginosa was found to be resistant in all doses.

The genus Eucalyptus belonging to the Myrtaceae family, consists of tall, evergreen trees with leathery leaves. They are indigenous to Australia and contain about 900 species and subspecies. One important use is production of essential oils, which are valuable in both medicinal and pharmaceutical industries. There are about 62 species of Eucalyptus naturalized to Cyprus including E. camaldulensis and E. torquata. The essential oil constituents of leaves of these two species of Eucalyptus collected from Northern Cyprus were isolated by hydro-distillation and analyzed by GC and GC/MS, simultaneously. E. camaldulensis oil yield was higher (2.4%), and major compounds identified were α-phellandrene (10.3%) and β-phellandrene (30.6%), respectively. These compounds were followed by p-cymene (8.2%), bicyclogermacrene (6.1%) and spathulenol (9.3%). On the other hand, E. torquata oil yield was relatively lower (1.6%), with major compounds being α-pinene (18.6%), 1,8-cineole (18.8%), β-eudesmol (10.3%) and torquatone (29.2%).