Chemical Analysis and Investigation of Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Activities of (Apiaceae).

Plants of the genus are intensively investigated as potential new sources of bioactive isolated products. In this work, the chemical composition of volatile constituents (essential oils and headspace volatiles) and dichloromethane extracts, as well as antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of essential oils and MFDEs (methanol fractions of dichloromethane extracts) of from Serbia, were investigated. Volatiles of roots, leaves, stems and fruits, and fatty acids and phytosterols in dichloromethane extracts of roots and fruits were analyzed by GC-FID-MS, whereas coumarins in MFDEs by LC-MS and some isolated coumarins by H-NMR. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations/minimum fungicidal concentrations (MBCs/MFCs) of essential oils and MFDEs were determined against 13 microorganisms. Antibiofilm activity was assessed against four microorganisms. Additionally, congo red and ergosterol binding assays were conducted to elucidate selected mechanisms of antibiofilm action in the case of . Total of 52 volatile constituents, 16 fatty acids, eight phytosterols and 10 coumarins were identified. Essential oils demonstrated significant activity, surpassing that of commercial food preservatives, against six tested molds from the , and genera, as well as against bacteria and . Most of the oils strongly inhibited the formation of biofilms by and . MFDEs exhibited noteworthy effects against and the tested species, particularly , and significantly inhibited biofilm formation. This inhibition was linked to a marked reduction in exopolysaccharide production, while antifungal mechanisms associated with ergosterol remained unaffected.