Study of chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of peppermint essential oil

Peppermint (menthe piperita) is a usable medicinal herb that has therapeutic effects. Therewith can use as flavoring agent in the manufacture of foods. In this study, pick up and drying of the leafs done at the first and then essential oil of the herb was collected by hydrodistillation method and Clevenger apparatus. Chemical composition of essential oil were identified with a GC-MS system. Antimicrobial effects of essence were studied with agar dilution method and specified with minimal inhibitory concentration. The most important components of peppermint essential oil were: menthol (39.81%), mentone (19.55%), neo menthol (8.83%), menthylacetate (8.64%), and 1, 8-cineole (5.81%). Minimmum imhibitory concentration (MIC) of peppermint oil on the staphylococcus aureus, E.coli and salmonella tiphy was 150, 300, and 250 ppm respectively.