title: In vitro antibacterial activity of some aliphatic aldehydes from Olea europaea L.
abstract: In the present paper we report the 'in vitro' activity of eight aliphatic long-chain aldehydes from olive flavor (hexanal, nonanal, (E)-2-hexenal, (E)-2-eptenal, (E)-2-octenal, (E)-2-nonenal, (E)-2-decenal and (E,E)-2,4-decadienal) against a number of standard and freshly isolated bacterial strains that may be causal agents of human intestinal and respiratory tract infections. The saturated aldehydes characterized in the present study do not exhibit significant antibacterial activity, while the alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes have a broad antimicrobial spectrum and show similar activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms. The effectiveness of the aldehydes under investigation seems to depend not only on the presence of the alpha,beta-double bond, but also on the chain length from the enal group and on the microorganism tested.
authors.affiliation: Department Farmaco-Biologico, University of Messina, Contrada Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bisignano
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Laganà
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trombetta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arena
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nostro
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uccella
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mazzanti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saija
mesh_terms: D000447:Aldehydes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000187:drug effects; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000737:chemistry*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D012475:Salmonella / Q000187:drug effects; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents