Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) seeds essential oil as a potential natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent

Synthetic antioxidants and antimicrobial agents can induce many undesired side effects, which attracts interest of food producers and consumers in finding ingredients of natural origin. The antioxidative and antimicrobial activity of essential oil from dill (Anethum graveolens L.) seeds was investigated in terms of their possible application as natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents. DPPH test and FRAP method have been used for the investigation of antioxidative activity of essential oil. Disc-diffusion method has been used for investigation of oil antimicrobial activity on following microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis and Candida albicans. Essential oil, in concentration of 29 mg/mL, incubated for 60 minutes has shown the highest degree of DPPH radicals’ neutralization (79.62%). FRAP activity of oil was 40.63 μmol Fe2+/g of essential oil. Essential oil showed the best antimicrobial activity on Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, there was a significant antimicrobial activity on all investigated microorganisms.