Antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of essential oils of different types of pepper (Piper sp.)
Essential oils are mixtures of potent compounds with biological effects, such as those with antioxidant, antimicrobial, antitumor and/or anti-inflammatory effects. In this paper, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of essential oils of different types of commercial pepper was tested. Essential oils are prepared by hydrodistillation. Polyphenol content, reduction potential and DPPH radical inhibition were analyzed. Antimicrobial activity was tested on reference strains using the diffusion technique. The analysis showed that the essential oil of black pepper has a significantly higher antioxidant potential compared to the essential oils of green and white pepper. High antimicrobial activity was also found for the black pepper essential oil sample, except in the case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.