Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Mexican Oregano (Poliomintha longiflora) Essential Oil, Hydrosol and Extracts from Waste Solid Residues

Poliomintha longiflora is a Mexican oregano, which has not been widely studied. This work aimed to describe the chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities present in P. longiflora essential oil (EO), the hydrosol from EO extraction and extracts from waste solid residues (WSRs), identified as ethanol extract, ethyl acetate extract and the subfractions of ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts. The chemical characterization of the EO, hydrosol and WSR extracts was performed by GC–MS and HPLC. Their antioxidant activity was evaluated using two methods, and their antimicrobial activity was evaluated against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, and Salmonella Typhimurium. Thirty-one chemical components were identified in the EO. The subfractions from the ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts contain methylmaleic anhydride, thymoquinone, thymol, carvacrol, thymol acetate, carvacrol acetate, and phenolic acids. The EO presented the highest biological activities for antioxidant (136.05 mg equivalent of ascorbic acid/g (AAE/g); IC50 83.70 μg/mL of 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)) and antimicrobial tests (minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 250–750 mg/L), while the hydrosol and the ethyl acetate extract from WSRs had the lowest antioxidant activity (14.16 and 12.29 mg AAE/g respectively), and the hydrosol had the lowest antimicrobial activity (MIC of 3000 mg/L). The data suggest that Mexican oregano P. longiflora hydrosol and extracts from waste solid residues can still have compounds with antimicrobial and antioxidant capacities.