International Journal of Pharmacology (IJP) is published by IMR Press from Volume 21 Issue 4 (2025). Previous articles were published by another publisher under the CC-BY licence, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement.
Assessment of Sesame and Sweet Almond Oils Efficacy Against Food-Borne and Human Illness Microorganisms with Molecular Docking Study
1 Department of Biology, College of Science, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Plant, Faculty of Science, Fayoum University, Fayoum 63514, Egypt
3 Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11725, Egyp
Abstract
Background and Objective: Human and food-born pathogenic microorganism’s resistance to antibiotics has been a significant problem in the last decades. The main objective of this study was to assess the antimicrobial activities of sesame and sweet almond essential oils (EOs) alone and in dual combinations. Materials and Methods: The sesame oil was extracted from the heated sesame seeds at 35°C utilizing the cold pressing procedure, while almond oil was extracted at temperatures ranging from 50 to 70°C. Chemical constituents of the used EOs were determined via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), antimicrobial activity was detected using well-diffusion method, while antioxidant potential was assessed using 1,1-Diphenyl-2-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Results: The GC-MS analysis indicated that sesamin, sesamolin, β-sitosterol and campesterol represent the main components of sesame essential oil (EO), while β-sitosterol, glycidol oleate and vitamin E represent the main components of sweet almond EO. Some compounds such as 3-methylpentane, dodecane, (Z)-2-decenal; undec-2-enal, tetradecane, hexadecane, docosane, dihydrodehydrocostus lactone, α-tocopherol and squalene were detected in both sesame and sweet almond EOs. Almond EO was effective against Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae compared to sesame EO. Less IC50 value (28.19 μg/mL) of sweet almond EO than the IC50 value (60.5 μg/mL) of sesame EO for DPPH scavenging activity was recorded. Molecular docking interaction indicated sesamin and β-sitosterol have enough potential to inhibit the proteins of K. pneumoniae (PDB: 8FFK) and E. faecalis (PDB: 2OMK). Conclusion: The EOs of sesame and sweet almonds have the potential to inhibit the tested microorganism in vitro and in silico.
Keywords
- Antimicrobial activity
- sesame oil
- sweet almond oil
- antioxidant activity
- microorganism
- molecular docking
