Chemical composition, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity of Dracocephalum moldavica L. essential oil and hydrolate

Steam distillation was used for the isolation of Dracocephalum moldavica L. (Moldavian dragonhead) essential oil (DMEO). This aromatic herbaceous plant is widespread across the Northern Hemisphere regions and has been utilized in health-improving studies and applications. In addition to the DMEO, the hydrolate (DMH), a byproduct of the distillation process, was also collected. The DMEO and DMH were analyzed and compared in terms of their chemical composition, as well as their in vitro biological activities. The main component in DMEO was geranyl acetate, while geranial was dominant in DMH. The DMEO demonstrated better antioxidant and antimicrobial activities compared with the DMH against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes, which represent sources of food-borne illness at the global level. The DMEO and DMH show promise as antioxidant and antimicrobial additives to various products.Supplementary Materials: The following supporting information can be downloaded at [https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/plants11070941/s1], Table S1: The “goodness of fit” kinetics models; Figure S1: GC-FID Chromatogram of Dracocephalum moldavica essential oil (DMEO); and Figure S2: GC-FID Chromatogram of Dracocephalum moldavica hydrolate (DMH).This article is a part of the special Issue "New Insights in the Research of Bioactive Compounds from Plant Origin with Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical Potential" [https://www.mdpi.com/journal/plants/special_issues/nutraceutical_pharmaceutical_potential