Biology and health Laboratory, Team of biotechnology and applied Microbiology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, BP 2121, Tetuan, Morocco
The Region of Tangier-Tetuan (Northern of Morocco) experienced an important urban development in the last decade. For this reason, groundwater's quality is highly susceptible to deterioration by liquid and/or solid waste pollutants. Nevertheless, rural and some per urban residents are still pending on springs supplies for drinking water, irrigation and domestic activities without any treatment, so they are exposed to water diseases. In order to evaluate the hygienic quality of these springs, a study was conducted during 2013. Fifteen springs were selected for the investigations on chemical and bacteriological parameters. The physicochemical results showed that the majority of the studied springs are considered acceptable, except some springs that don't meet the standards recommended. Our study revealed also a serious contamination of groundwater by microbial agents, the concentrations of different microbial indicators differed, dependent on the spring's location with respect to the different sources of contamination. Monitoring the chemical and bacteriological quality of drinking water is essential to prevent the population to health risk.
Essential oil from the aerial parts of Lavandula multifida L. (Lamiaceae), used in the Moroccan traditional medicine, was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 34 constituents, representing 95.25 % of the total oil were identified. The major components at the species level were Carvacrol (47.62%), ?- bisabolene (9.01%), and Dodecyl Acrylate (8.37%), Linalol (7.42%), Menthone (4.98%), ?- Caryophyllene (3.34%), ?- Pinene (3.21%). Antibacterial activity of this oil was tested against human pathogenic bacteria: gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria by the agar diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the oil were determined by the microdilution technique. The oil showed significant inhibitory activity against the bacteria, S. Aureus (14.330 ± 0.577 mm), B. subtilis (12.670± 0.577 mm), P. mirabilis (12± 1 mm), P. vulgaris (11.67± 0.577 mm), L. innocua (10.660 ± 0.577 mm), L. monocytogenes (8.667± 0.577 mm), E. coli CECT (9.667± 0.577 mm) and E. coli K12 (9.333 ± 0.577 mm). No inhibitory activity was observed against the bacterium Ps. aeruginosa.