« Back to Farmacia Journal 5/2025

COMPREHENSIVE INSIGHTS INTO TAGETES MINUTA: A STUDY OF GC-MS PROFILING, ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY, FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING, COMPUTATIONAL DOCKING APPLICATIONS AND A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

MUKUL SHARMA 1, KHATIB ISMAIL SAYEED 2, HANAN BOSLY 1, HABIB KHEMIRA 1, AFRAIM KOTY 3, SYAM MOHAN 4,5*, WILBEE D. SASIKALA 6, MANAL MOHAMED ELHASSAN TAHA 7, SIDDIG IBRAHIM ABDELWAHAB 7, ZEINAB A. MOHAMMED 8

1 Environment and Nature Research Centre, Jazan University, P.O. Box 114, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Biology, College of Science, Jazan University, 45142 Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3 Department of Physical Science, Chemistry Division, College of Science, Jazan University, P.O. Box. 114, Jazan 45142, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
4 Center for Global health Research, Saveetha Medical College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
5 School of Health Sciences, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
6 College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Govt Medical College. Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
7 Health Research Centre, Jazan University, 45142 Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
8 Forensic medicine and clinical toxicology department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt

Download Full Article PDF

This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and molecular interactions of phytocompounds found in Tagetes minuta L. essential oil (TMEO). Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to identify bioactive compounds in TMEO. Bibliometric data on T. minuta from the Scopus database (1961 - 2024) were analysed using R-package and VOS viewer to map research trends, emerging topics and key contributors. Antimicrobial sensitivity testing and minimum inhibitory concentration assays evaluated the activity of TMEO against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes faecalis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Candida albicans. Antioxidant activity was assessed using the DPPH assay, where TMEO exhibited 96.4% inhibition with an absorbance of 0.840 at 517 nm. Computational docking using AutoDock Vina revealed strong binding affinities (-5.2 to -5.0 kcal/mol) of major compounds – including trans-β-Ocimene, valeric acid, D-limonene and tagetone – toward DNA gyrase (PDBID: 3G75). Monoterpenes such as sabinene, myrcene and α-phellandrene were also identified. These findings support the therapeutic potential of T. minuta and its essential oil for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and agricultural applications. ADMET and toxicity analyses further validated their drug-like properties.