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short communication
Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009 347
chEmicaL comPosition anD
antiBactEriaL actiVitY oF EssEntiaL
oiLs oF BittEr FEnnEL (FOENICULUM
VULGARE miLL. Var. VULGARE) anD DiLL
(ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS L.) aGainst thE
GroWth oF FooD-BornE anD sEED-
BornE PathoGEnic BactEria
EFFETTO DELLA COMPOSIZIONE CHIMICA ED ATTIVITÀ ANTIBATTERICA
DI OLI ESSENZIALI DI FINOCCHIO AMARO
(FOENICULUM VULGARE MILL. VAR. VULGARE) ED ANETO
(ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS L.) SULLA CRESCITA DI BATTERI PATOGENI
DI ORIGINE ALIMENTARE E DI ORIGINE CEMENTIERA
s. soYLu*, E.m. soYLu anD G.a. EVrEnDiLEK1
Department of Plant Protection, Mustafa Kemal University,
31034 Antakya, Hatay, Turkey
1 Department of Food Enginering, Abant İzzet Baysal University,
14280 Bolu, Turkey
* Corresponding author: Tel. +90 326 2455845, Fax +90 326 2455832
e-mail: soylu@mku.edu.tr
- Key words: Anethum graveolens L., antibacterial activities, essential oils, Foeniculum vulgare Mill.,
plant pathogens -
ABSTRACT
In the present study, the chemical
composition and antibacterial activi-
ty of essential oils of bitter fennel (Foe-
niculum vulgare Mill. var. vulgare) and
RIASSUNTO
Nel presente lavoro è stato studiato
l’effetto della composizione chimica e
l’attività antibatterica sulla crescita di
batteri patogeni di origine alimentare e
348 Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009
dill (Anethum graveolens L.) were inves-
tigated against food-borne and seed-
borne pathogenic bacteria. The chemi-
cal composition of bitter fennel and dill
essential oils was analyzed by gas chro-
matography-mass spectroscopy. The
major compounds found in the essen-
tial oils of bitter fennel and dill were es-
tragole (37.6%) and limonene (33.1%),
respectively. These essential oils have
antibacterial activity against food-borne
as well as seed-borne pathogenic bac-
teria. Fennel essential oil had the high-
est antibacterial activity against the
food-borne bacterial pathogen Staph-
ylococus aureus, while dill essential
oil had the highest antibacterial activ-
ity against seed-borne pathogenic Cla-
vibacter michiganensis subsp. michi-
ganensis. Amongst all the bacterial spe-
cies tested, the plant pathogenic agent
Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato had
the greatest resistance to both essen-
tial oils. Considering the significant lev-
el of bacterial growth inhibition of seed-
borne and food-borne pathogens, es-
sential oils or their components could
be promising seed disinfectants or food
additives in appropriate products.
sementiera, di oli essenziali di finocchio
amaro (Foeniculum vulgare Mill. var.
vulgare) e di aneto (Anethum graveolens
L.). La composizione chimica degli oli
essenziali di finocchio amaro e di ane-
to è stata analizza per via gas-croma-
tografica accoppiata alla spettrometria
di massa. I principali composti ritrovati
negli oli essenziali di finocchio amaro e
aneto erano rispettivamente l’estrago-
lo (37,6%) e il limonene (33,1%). Que-
sti oli essenziali presentano una attivi-
tà antibatterica nei confronti dei batte-
ri patogeni di origine alimentare e se-
mentiera. L’olio essenziale di finocchio
presentava l’attività antibatterica più
alta nei confronti del batterio patoge-
no di origine alimentare Staphylococus
aureus, mentre l’olio essenziale di ane-
to presentava l’attività antibatterica più
alta nei confronti del patogeno di origi-
ne sementiera Clavibacter michiganen-
sis subsp. michiganensis. Fra tutte la
specie batteriche testate l’agente pato-
geno delle piante Pseudomonas syrin-
gae pv. Tomato presentava la maggio-
re resistenza nei confronti di entrambi
gli oli essenziali. Considerando la signi-
ficativa inibizione della crescita batte-
rica dei patogeni di origine alimentare
e sementiera, gli oli essenziali o i loro
componenti potrebbero risultare, quan-
do inseriti in appropriati prodotti, pro-
mettenti disinfettanti delle sementi o
additivi alimentari.
INTRODUCTION
Food-borne bacterial disease agents
are the cause of dangerous infections
in humans. It has been estimated that
as many as 30% of the people in devel-
oping countries suffer from food-borne
disease each year. Plant diseases caused
by a range of bacteria are also one of the
major problems in the cultivation of sev-
eral crops. In many countries, quick and
effective management of plant diseases
and microbial contamination is gener-
ally achieved by using synthetic pesti-
cides and antibiotics. Chemical control
of plant disease is based on the use of
antibiotics (such as streptomycin) in the
USA or copper compounds in the rest of
Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009 349
the world. These methods prevent bac-
terial multiplication, but are not always
adequate for controlling seed-borne inoc-
ulum. Unfortunately, the frequent use of
pesticides and antibiotics against plant
and human pathogenic bacteria has led
to the selection of bacterial populations
that are resistant to antibiotics (URECH
et al., 1997). Factors including the high
cost of pesticides, the development of
pesticide-antibiotic-resistant food-borne
and plant pathogenic isolates, govern-
mental restrictions on the use of anti-
biotics against plant pathogens in the
European countries, including Turkey,
and concern for the environment high-
light the need to find alternative control
methods.
Secondary metabolites from aromatic
and medicinal plants and essential oils
have been used empirically for a wide
variety of purposes for many centuries.
Many of them have potential uses in
medical procedures, and in the cosmet-
ic, food preservation and pharmacologi-
cal industries as well as for crop protec-
tion (HOSTETTMANN and WOLFENDER,
1997; RICE et al., 1998). The antimicro-
bial properties of essential oils and their
major constituents from a wide range
of aromatic plant species have been as-
sessed against the comprehensive range
of microorganisms including bacteria,
fungi and viruses (reviewed by JANSSEN
et al., 1987; DORMAN and DEANS 2000;
ISMAN 2000; BURT 2004; BAKKALI et al.,
2008). Bactericides of plant origin could
be one approach to bacterial plant dis-
ease management because of their eco-
friendly nature.
The Eastern Mediterranean region of
Turkey has a flora that is rich in indige-
nous aromatic and medicinal plant spe-
cies. Bitter fennel (Foeniculum vulgare
Mill. var. vulgare) and dill (Anetheum gra-
veolens L.), belong to the parsley family
(Apiacaea). They have been widely grown
in the Mediterranean basin of Turkey
since antiquity and are known for their
medicinal and aromatic properties. The
seeds and essential oils of fennel are
commonly used in the perfume indus-
try, as a natural remedy against diges-
tive disorders and to flavor foods and li-
quors. Dill plants are cultivated and the
leafy tops are used for fresh consump-
tion and food dressing. After flowering at
the end of the harvest period, both plant
species are left in the field for domestic
animal consumption.
The objectives of this study were (a)
to identify the chemical composition of
the essential oils isolated from two re-
lated plant species, bitter fennel (F. vul-
gare var. vulgare) and dill (A. graveolens)
grown in the region and (b) to investigate
the in vitro antibacterial activities against
ten bacterial species of Gram-positive
and Gram-negative food-borne (Salmo-
nella Thyphimirium, Listeria monocyto-
genes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Staph-
ylococus aureus and Salmonella Enter-
itidis) and seed-borne pathogenic bacte-
ria (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato,
Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicato-
ria, Erwinia carotovora, Clavibacter mich-
iganensis subsp. michiganensis, Agro-
bacterium tumefaciens).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant material and extraction
of essential oils
The plants used in this study were
identified and a voucher specimen was
deposited in the herbarium of the Plant
Protection Department of Mustafa Ke-
mal University (No. FvAu2 and AgSc4).
For the extraction of essential oils, dill
plants and fennel seeds were collect-
ed in the Samandağ (36° 16’ N; 35° 48’
E, 38 m) and Narlıca (36° 14’ N; 36° 13’
E, 104 m) districts, respectively, in the
Eastern Mediterranean region of Tur-
key. The annual average temperatures
in Samandağ and Narlıca were 20.1° and
18.1°C; rainfall was 750 and 1,124 mm,
respectively. The characteristic soils of
350 Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009
Samandağ and Narlıca are aquic xe-
rofluent and calcixerept, respectively.
The leaves and stems of the dill plants
were used for the extraction of the es-
sential oils, while the seeds were used
for the extraction of the fennel essen-
tial oil. Three different lots of air-dried
plant material were used separately for
extraction. For each lot, the air-dried
plant material (200 g) was placed in a
5 L round-bottom distillation flask and
3 L of double-distilled water were add-
ed. The essential oils were obtained by
steam distillation using a Clevenger -
type apparatus (Ildam, Ankara, Tur-
key) for 3 h. The oils were separated,
dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate
and stored in an amber bottle at 4°C
until used.
GC-MS analysis of the essential oil
The essential oil analysis was per-
formed using a Hewlett-Packard 6890
(Waldbronn, Germany) GC linked to
a Hewlett-Packard 5973 mass selec-
tive detector equipped with a HP-5 MS
(Crosslinked 5% Phenyl Methyl Silox-
ane) capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm
i.d., 0.25 µm film thickness). The carri-
er gas was helium, at a ratio of 1.0 mL
min-1. The amount of the sample inject-
ed was 0.1 µL in split mode (50:1). The
initial oven temperature was 50°C, in-
creased at a rate of 2°C min-1 to 90°C,
5°C min-1 to 210°C and finally isother-
mal for 5 min. The injector and detector
temperatures were maintained at 250°
and 280°C, respectively. The quadru-
pole mass spectrometer was scanned
over the 50-550 amu range at 1.53 scan
s-1, with an ionizing voltage of 70 eV.
The major components of the essential
oils were identified by comparing the re-
tention indices and mass spectra with
those of authentic samples or published
data (ADAMS, 2001). They were then
matched with the Wiley275.L Registry
of Mass Spectral Data (MCLAFFERTY,
1994). The retention indices were cal-
culated for all of the volatile constitu-
ents using a homologous series of n-al-
kanes C8-C20.
Test microorganisms
and culture methods
The food-borne and human patho-
genic bacteria used were Escherichia coli
O157:H7 (ATCC 35218), Salmonella ty-
phimurium (RHSM 1996), Listeria mono-
cytogenes (NCTC 2167), Staphylococcus
aureus (ATCC 43300) and Salmonella en-
teritidis (OSU 799). Stock cultures were
maintained at 4°C on Tryptic Soy Broth
(Merck) amended with 5 g L-1 Yeast Ex-
tract (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) and
15 g L-1 agar agar (Merck, Darmstadt,
Germany). Cultures of the plant patho-
genic bacterial isolates of Pseudomo-
nas syringae pv. tomato (PstHd1), Xan-
thomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria
(XavMd3), Erwinia carotovora pv. caroto-
vora (EccMd17), Clavibacter michiganen-
sis subsp. michiganensis (CmmAd12)
and Agrobacterium tumefaciens (AtAd2)
used in the study were isolated from in-
fected leaves, fruit and stems of toma-
to and pepper plants growing in the re-
gion. They were identified on the basis of
fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis
as described by SASSER (1990). Pst was
grown and maintained on King’s medi-
um B (KB) agar (Merck, Darmstadt, Ger-
many), while other isolates (Xav, Cmm,
Ecc and At) were grown on yeast glucose
chalk (YDC) agar. Stock cultures were
maintained on appropriate media at 4°C
and sub-cultured once a month.
Active cultures were prepared for the
experiments by transferring a loopful
of cells from the stock cultures to 10
mL flasks of appropriate nutrient broth
which were then incubated for 24 h at
37°C (food-borne pathogen) or 26°C
(plant pathogen). The cultures were di-
luted with an appropriate fresh broth to
achieve optical densities corresponding
to 108 CFU mL-1. These suspensions were
used as required.
Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009 351
Determination of antibacterial
activity of the essential oil
The antibacterial activity of the essen-
tial oils was determined by using the pa-
per disc diffusion technique. Briefly, the
test was performed in sterile Petri dishes
(100 mm diameter) containing an appro-
priate solid and sterile media. The sur-
face of the plates was inoculated with
200 µL of bacterial suspension prepared
as described previously. Sterile filter pa-
per (Whatman No. 1) discs (6 mm in di-
ameter) containing 10 µL of the test-
ed essential oils were placed in the cen-
tre of the agar surface. A disc contain-
ing the 10 µL of sterile broth media was
used as the negative control. Two differ-
ent reference antibiotic, rifampicin and
tetracycline, (Sigma, Taufkirchen, Ger-
many) amended discs, at 100 µg mL-1
concentrations, were used as the posi-
tive control for comparison. Each indi-
vidual Petri dish was immediately cov-
ered to prevent eventual evaporation. Af-
ter allowing the essential oils to diffuse
across the surface for 1 h at room tem-
peratures, the plates were sealed with
sterile parafilm and incubated at 26°C
(for plant pathogens) or 37°C (for food-
borne pathogens) for 48 h. The antibac-
terial activities of the oils and antibiot-
ics were demonstrated by a clear zone
of inhibition around the disc. The zone
of inhibition was measured using Ver-
nier calipers.
Statistical analysis
All experiments were performed twice
using five replicate plates of each es-
sential oil for each bacterium. The data
were subjected to analysis of variance
(ANOVA) using the SPSS statistics pro-
gram (Version 11.5). The significance be-
tween treatments was determined using
Tukey’s Test (P≤0.05). The data from two
independent experiments were analyzed
separately but were not significantly dif-
ferent (P>0.05).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The average essential oil yields of bit-
ter fennel and dill were about 7.9 and
0.9% (v/w), respectively. The qualitative
and quantitative analyses of essential oil
constituents were identified by GC-MS
and the results are reported in Table 1,
together with their relative percentages
in the order of elution from the column.
The bitter fennel essential oil is made
up of 13 constituents, which account
for the total amount. The major com-
ponent was estragole (37.6%), followed
by limonene (35.4%), fenchone (12.8%)
and carvone (3.4%). The composition of
the bitter fennel oil analysed was typi-
cal of the variety of Foeniculum vulgare
Mill. var. vulgare (bitter fennel) (BARAZ-
ANI et al., 2002). While some variations
were observed, the composition of the
bitter fennel essential oil was general-
ly in agreement with that reported from
different countries.
The essential oil of dill had a very dif-
ferent chemical composition with a to-
tal of 16 constituents, which accounted
for 99.1% of the total amount. Accord-
ing to GC-MS analysis, limonene was
the most abundant volatile compound,
comprising 33.1% of the total volatiles,
followed by α-phellandrene (24.9%), car-
vone (16.8%), dillapiole (9.6%), p-cy-
mene (3.7%) and α-pinene (3.0%). The
properties of dill oil depend largely on
the proportions of limonene, carvone
and α-phellandrene; the characteristics
of the essential oil predominated if the
carvone content was less than 35%. The
aroma of dill herb oil from the leaves and
stems is due to phellandrene and dill
ether. Minor components like apiole or
myristicin may be typical of some variet-
ies which allow the chemotypes to be dis-
tinguished (KRÜGER and HAMMER 1996).
Notable quantities of apiole were detect-
ed in this study. Myristicin accounted for
1.38% of the total oil. Quantitative dif-
ferences in the essential oil components
in F. vulgare and A. graveolens from dif-
352 Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009
Table 1 - Chemical constituents of essential oils of bitter fennel (F. vulgare var. vulgare) and dill (A. gra-
veolens). The compounds are listed in order of elution time from a HP-5MS column.
Fennel Dill
No. Compounds RI
a
% MS
b
% MS
b
1 α-Pinene 935 2.6±0.03 3.0±0.08
2 Sabinene 971 1.5±0.02 0.4±0.03
3 Myrcene 990 0.8±0.02 0.5±0.02
4 α-Phellandrene 1002 0.4±0.03 24.9±0.3
5 p-Cymene 1021 - 3.7±0.25
6 Limonene 1025 35.4±0.69 33.1±0.17
7 trans-β-Ocimene 1035 2.1±0.02 -
8 γ-Terpinene 1060 0.4±0.02 0.4±0.03
9 Fenchone 1081 12.8±0.26 -
10 Terpinen-4-ol 1180 - 0.2±0.01
11 Dill ether 1187 - 0.6±0.03
12 cis-Dihydrocarvone 1191 - 1.1±0.07
13 Estragole 1193 37.6±0.59 -
14 trans-Dihydrocarvone 1197 - 1.7±0.02
15 Carvone 1242 3.4±0.05 16.8±0.24
16 p-Anisaldehyde 1250 0.3±0.02 -
17 trans-Anethole 1286 2.0±0.07 -
18 β-Caryophyllene 1417 - 0.4±0.03
19 Germacrene D 1477 0.1±0.01 0.9±0.04
20 Myristcin 1518 - 1.8±0.05
21 Dillapiole 1623 - 9.6±0.04
a
The retention index was calculated using a homologous series of n-alkenes C
8
-C
20
.
b
The values (±SE) are expressed as means of three different determinations and were obtained from electronic in-
tegration measurements using selective mass detector.
Dash indicates the compound was not found.
ferent countries indicate that environ-
mental and genetic factors strongly in-
fluence its chemical composition (MA-
ROTTI et al., 1994).
The antibacterial activities of the es-
sential oils measured by the agar disc
diffusion method are given in Table 2.
The essential oils isolated from both
plant species showed varying levels of
antibacterial activities and significant
differences in microbial susceptibility.
The essential oil of F. vulgare showed
the highest and lowest activities against
food-borne bacterial pathogens S. aere-
us (13.4 mm) and P. syringae pv. tomato
(6.5 mm), respectively. The essential oil
of A. graveolens had the highest activity
against gram-positive plant pathogenic
bacterial agent C. michiganensis subsp.
michiganensis (19.4 mm). Gram-nega-
tive bacterial agent P. syringae pv. syrin-
gae was the most resistant bacterial spe-
cies to the dill essential oil just like fen-
nel (6.3 mm). Volatile compounds from
plants, especially essential oils, have an-
timicrobial activity against a variety of
food-borne, human and plant pathogens
(BAKKALI et al., 2008). A relatively limit-
ed number of reports were found in the
literature regarding plant extracts and/
or essential oils against phytopathogenic
bacteria. To our knowledge no research
has been conducted to evaluate the ef-
ficacy of the essential oils used in this
study against plant pathogenic bacteria.
The results of this study confirm that es-
Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009 353
sential oils from the Turkish specimens
of F. vulgare and A. graveolens have an-
tibacterial activity against food-borne
and economically important seed-borne
plant pathogenic bacteria. Similar anti-
bacterial activities of essential oils and/
or major components of dill and fennel
plants from different countries against a
variety of food-borne and human patho-
gens have been reported (AGGRAWAL et
al., 2002; DELAQUIS et al., 2002; DADA-
LIOGLU and EVRENDILEK 2004; OZKAN et
al., 2003; RUBERTO et al., 2000; SINGH
et al., 2005; SCHELZ et al., 2006). On
the other hand, very few studies have
shown the antibacterial activities of es-
sential oils against plant pathogenic bac-
teria (SATISH et al., 1999; LO CANTORE
et al., 2004).
The chemical methods of plant dis-
ease management are expensive and can
damage the beneficial microbial popula-
tion present in the ecosystem. The obvi-
ous pollution problems that result from
indiscriminate use of synthetic pesti-
cides and their toxic effect on non-tar-
get organisms have prompted investiga-
tions on the use of pesticides of plant or-
igin. Natural plant products are impor-
tant sources of new agrochemicals for
the control of plant diseases. Further-
more, biocides of plant origin are non-
phytotoxic, systemic and easily biode-
gradable (BAKKALI et al., 2008).
Among the bacteria, six species
showed similar sensitivity to both essen-
tial oils, whereas four bacteria showed
differences in the sensitivity to fen-
nel and dill oils. The size of the inhibi-
tion zone recorded for A. tumefaciens,
C. michiganensis subsp. michiganen-
sis, and L. monocytogenes in Petri dish-
es with fennel oil added was significant-
ly less than that recorded in the petri
dishes with dill oil added (Table 2). The
size of the inhibition zone recorded for
Staphylococus aureus was significantly
greater in fennel oil-added Petri dishes
than that in the dill oil-added Petri dish-
es. The mode of action of essential oils
against bacterium is unclear. The essen-
tial oil and its components may disrupt
the cell membrane of the fungal and bac-
terial pathogen and change its permea-
bility (COX et al., 2000). Given the broad
spectrum activities of fennel and dill es-
sential oils and the general membrane-
damaging effects of essential oils, this
Table 2 - Antibacterial activities of bitter fennel (F. vulgare var. vulgare) and dill (A. graveolens) essen-
tial oils against plant pathogenic and food-borne bacterial species.
Inhibition zone (mm)
a
Microorganisms Bitter Fennel Dill Tetracycline Rifampicin
Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato 6.5 aA 6.3 aA 20.6 bC 15.8 bB
Erwinia carotovora pv. carotovora 6.9 abA 6.78 aA 41.4 cdC 21.1 cB
Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria 10.9 efA 12.9 eA 42.6 dB 49.7 eC
Agrobacterium tumefaciens 8.5 cdA 10.4 cdB 50.7 eD 29.6 dC
Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis 9.6 deA 19.4 fB 18.7 bB 53.0 fC
Listeria monocytogenes 7.4 abcA 10.1 cdB 39.6 cD 12.4 aC
Staphylococcus aureus 13.37 gC 10.8 dB 8.4 aA 12.6 aC
Escherichia coli 11.8 fB 11.4 deB 8.3 aA 16.6 bC
Salmonella Enteritidis 8.1 bcA 8.8 bcA 9.4 aAB 16.5 bC
Salmonella Thyphimirium 8.6 cdA 8.4 bA 9.6 aB 11.6 aC
a
Includes diameter of disc (6 mm). Mean values (n=5) followed by the same small or capital letters within the col-
umn or row, respectively, are not signicantly different according to Tukey’s test (P≤0.05).
354 Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009
variability is probably due to the rate at
which their active components diffuse
through the cell wall into the phospho-
lipid regions of the cell membrane struc-
ture as suggested by COX et al. (2000).
In addition to their antibacterial activ-
ities, the F. vulgare essential oil show an-
tiviral activity that has inhibitory prop-
erties against PVX (potato virus X), TMV
(tobacco mosaic virus) and TRSV (to-
bacco ring spot virus). The essential oil
at a concentration of 3000 ppm totally
inhibited the formation of local lesions
(SHUKLA et al., 1989). Similar studies
were conducted previously to assess the
efficacy of essential oils from medicinal
plants, including sweet fennel, which is
rich in trans-anethole, against phyto-
pathogenic fungi (SOYLU et al., 2006;
2007).
In summary, it can be concluded that
the essential oils of bitter fennel and dill,
rich in estragole (37.6%) and limonene
(33.1%), respectively, possess signifi-
cant antibacterial activities against not
only food-borne, but also seed-borne
pathogenic bacterial agents. Copper-
based preparations are generally ap-
plied to fight against plant pathogen-
ic bacterial agents using foliar spray-
ing, which only controls leaf symptoms.
However, the development of fungicide
resistance requires that new fungicides
be developed that have different modes
of action. Since essential oils and/or
their main components have been re-
ported to possess fungicidal and bac-
tericidal activities, the treatment of
seeds with essential oils or their compo-
nents could be used as a seed disinfec-
tant against seed-borne plant bacteri-
al agents. However further experiments
are needed to obtain information about
the economic aspects and antibacteri-
al activities of essential oils in vivo and
determine if there are phytotoxic effects
on seed germination. It is also likely that
these essential oils could be used as an-
timicrobial agents to prevent the spoil-
age of food products.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Dr. Yesim AYSAN, from Cukurova Uni-
versity, Department of Plant Protection, Adana,
for providing plant pathogenic bacterial isolates
and Dr. Ilhan Uremis from Mustafa Kemal Uni-
versity, Department of Plant Protection, Hatay,
for identification of the plant species used in the
experiments.
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356 Ital. J. Food Sci. n. 3, vol. 21 - 2009
