Fatty Acid Composition and Antimicrobial Activity Against Sensitive andMulti-drug Resistant Bacteria of Tunisian Allium cepa seed extract

Objective: This study is about Allium cepa (A. cepa) seed oil extraction, Fatty acids identification and its antibacterial activity. Methods: Soxhlet extraction method using methanol (MetOH), Fatty acid profile of seed oil using gas-chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Disc diffusion and plate micro dilution for the determination of the antibacterial activity. Results: Extraction’s yield was of 24.86 ± 0.98 (% of V/W). Seed extract shows that Linoleic acid (C18:2, ± 70.8%), oleic acid (C18:1, 20.14%) and palmitic acid (C16, ± 4.96%) were the dominant fatty acids in the A. cepa seed oil. Antimicrobial potential was detected against reference bacteria and clinical isolates pathogens. Conclusion: Those results show that A. cepa is a promising oil seed crop with high level of unsaturated fatty acids and antibacterial potential. A bivalent role: nutritive and antibiotic, of A. cepa seed oil prove its importance in food and pharmaceutical applications.