Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Activity, Anticollagenase and Antimicrobial Effect of Piper spp Essential Oil on Oral Microorganisms

The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition, antioxidant anticollagenase activity and antimicrobial effect of two species of the Piper genus, Piper divericatum and Piper callosum. For this process, an essential oil of each species was obtained and its composition was determined by means of gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer. The antioxidant activity was also identified by two methods: The Iron-reducing antioxidant power test – FRAP and by the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The anticollagenase activity was performed by inhibiting collagenase activity by spectrophotometric monitoring (Thing method). The antimicrobial effect of the essential oil of the different Piper species was determined by disc diffusion sensitivity tests on Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans, microorganisms of importance in different lesions of the oral cavity. The results regarding its composition indicate the presence of mainly sesquiterpenes and phenylpropanoids, its antioxidant activity is low, its anticollagenase capacity is absent and its antimicrobial effect is null for the microorganisms encountered. It is concluded that the two species of the Piper genus present compounds in their composition that should be studied since they could have beneficial effects; further studies should be developed to conclude on their unidentified effects.

KEY WORDS: chemical composition, antioxidant activity, anticollagenase activity, antimicrobial effect, oral pathogens.