Essential Oils and Mono/bi/tri-Metallic Nanocomposites as Alternative Sources of Antimicrobial Agents to Combat Multidrug-Resistant Pathogenic Microorganisms: An Overview

Abstract

Over the past few decades, many pathogenic bacteria have become resistant to existing antibiotics, which has become a threat to infectious disease control worldwide. Hence, there has been an extensive search for new, efficient, and alternative sources of antimicrobial agents to combat multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms. Numerous studies have reported the potential of both essential oils and metal/metal oxide nanocomposites with broad spectra of bioactivities including antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial attributes. However, only monometallic nanoparticles combined with essential oils have been reported on so far with limited data. Bi- and tri-metallic nanoparticles have attracted immense attention because of their diverse sizes, shapes, high surface-to-volume ratios, activities, physical and chemical stability, and greater degree of selectivity. Combination therapy is currently blooming and represents a potential area that requires greater attention and is worthy of future investigations. This review summarizes the synergistic effects of essential oils with other antimicrobial combinations such as mono-, bi-, and tri-metallic nanocomposites. Thus, the various aspects of this comprehensive review may prove useful in the development of new and alternative therapeutics against antibiotic resistant pathogens in the future.

Natural Preparations Based on Orange, Bergamot and Clove Essential Oils and Their Chemical Compounds as Antimicrobial Agents

“…The same effect was reported by Cho et al, where an antibacterial effect of clove oil against E. coli was observed for 600 µg/mL. Other studies reported the inhibitory effect of eugenol, the main chemical compound of clove oil [3][4][5].…”

“…Nanoemulsions are colloidal dispersions consisting of two immiscible solvents—oil (globules) and water (liquid)—in which one is dispersed in the other with the help of a surfactant that stabilizes the emulsion. Nanoemulsions are promising nanocarriers widely used in drug delivery, which help in improving the biodistribution of drugs and minimizing toxicity [ 3 ]. Uni-populational emulsions were obtained in the case of the samples EBEO (277.3 nm), EOEO (320.2 nm) and E(BEO/OEO) (315.5 nm), while the other samples present two particle populations with different ratios.…”

“…EOs are complex natural mixtures of volatile secondary metabolites, isolated from plants by hydrodistillation. They have been shown to be biocids against a wide range of organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, insects and plants [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

Synergistic Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Plant Essential Oil and Its Application in Seafood Preservation: A Review

“…EOs and their bioactive constituents have attracted great attention because of their potential functions and properties for use in the seafood industry, particularly recently, as we have an increased threat of antimicrobial resistance to common preservatives. Fortunately, the synergistic or additive antimicrobial effects of EOs or their components combined with chemical or physical methods have been intensively investigated in the past five years [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Trimetallic Nanoparticles: Greener Synthesis and Their Applications

“…Therefore, the incorporation of innovative NPs into biopolymers may improve these characteristics [ 133 ]. Trimetallic NPs (like Au-Fe-Ag and Fe-Ag-Pt) can act as promising antimicrobial agents for food packaging applications [ 134 ]; however, limited data are available on the passage of NPs into human organs and also their toxicity analyses in this field of science [ 133 ]. Innovative synthesis of trimetallic NPs and their incorporation into biopolymers are expected to improve the shelf life of foods, including preserved food, vegetables, fruits, cooked meat, fish, processed foods, cakes, bread, fermented milks, and dairy foods.…”