Determination of Antimicrobial Activity of Nasturtium Officinale and Its Content of Volatile Organic Compounds and Fatty Acids

Abstract

Due to the side effects of antibiotics used in the treatment of diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, and antibiotic resistance that develops due to the misuse of antibiotics, scientists have turned to the search for alternative antimicrobial compounds. Plants and antimicrobial compounds in plants are widely researched because they are natural and have been a familiar resource in the field of complementary medicine for centuries. In this study, antimicrobial activities of the methanol and water extracts of Nasturtium officinale prepared at different concentrations were investigated on gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and fungi by the disc diffusion method. In addition, volatile organic compound and fatty acidcontent of the plant were determined. For this purpose, fatty acids were determined by converting them to methyl esters in GC-FID (gas chromatography flame ionization detector), volatile compounds were determined by SPME (Solid-phase microextraction) method in GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). In addition, the amounts of volatile components in different parts of the plant were shown comparatively within the scope of the research. According to the results obtained; it was revealed that Nasturtium officinale has an antimicrobial effect on Bacillus megaterium, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus Spizizenii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The plant showed a stronger antimicrobial effect, especially on P. aeruginosa, C. Albicans, and E. coli. It has also been determined that Nasturtium officinale has important essential fatty acids as well as many volatile components. In the analyzes made, it was determined that the main volatile component of Nasturtium officinale was alpha-Terpinolene.