Screening of antimicrobial and insecticidal properties of essential oils extracted from three Tunisian aromatic and medicinal plants.

The essential oils (EOs) of Coriandrum sativum , Carum carvi and Artemisia herba-alba have been screened for their insecticidal activity against Tribolium castaneum , Sitophilus oryzae and Lasioderma serricorne and for their antimicrobial activity against Gram (+), Gram (-) bacteria and against yeast strain. Artemisia herba-alba EO showed good insecticidal activity with 24-h against L. serricorne (LC 50  = 29.7) and against T. castaneum (66.1 µg/mL) and antibacterial potentials against Staphyloccocus aureus (MIC = 0.125 mg/mL). The antimicrobial activities of C. carvi EO, rich in D-carvone (72.4%) and D-limonene (23.8%) were particularly remarkable, with LC 50 of 27.9 µg/mL against L. serricorne . Similarly, coriander EO, with linalool (64.6%) as the major compound was selected for its antimicrobial activities ( Candida albicans , MIC = 1 mg/mL). These findings demonstrated that the tested EOs could be used as a natural source of insecticidal and antimicrobial activity, which may have a variety of uses in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.