Screening for antimicrobial activity of some essential oils by the agar overlay technique

Abstract

Fifty-three essential oils were tested against five micro-organisms (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans) using the agar overlay technique. The essential oils were randomly selected and not on the basis of a supposed activity. It was found that all oils showed an activity against at least one micro-organism, and that substantial activities against P. aeruginosa were scarce. Combined activities against C. albicans, the Gram-positive bacteria and E. coli, and an activity against C. albicans were most often observed. Secondly a combined activity against C. albicans, B. subtilis and S. aureus was found. The differences between the inhibition zones were too small for a differentiation of the antimicrobial activities of the essential oils. A correlation matrix shows the relationships of the micro-organisms as to the activity patterns of the essential oils. High correlations were found for all the micro-organisms, except for P. aeruginosa.

Susceptibilities of Candida albicans Mouth Isolates to Antifungal Agents, Essentials Oils and Mouth Rinses

“…Higher inhibition zones for mint oil were obtained by Abdel-Mallek and collaborators [37], but others [36] obtained lower values. The rosemary, eucalyptus and lemon essential oils exhibited a moderate anti-candidal activity, results corroborate by others [36,46]. The tangerine and myrrh oils presented a weak anti-candidal activity.…”

“…This work evaluated the anti-candidial activity of eight plant essential oils usually presents on mouthwashes and toothpastes, and with their antimicrobial properties recognized [15,[36][37][38][39][40]. Our results showed that the isolates susceptibilities to oils differed among them, except between laurel and mint (P [ 0.05).…”

“…In this study, cinnamon was the most efficient oil. Previous studies recognize that cinnamon oil is an efficient antifungal or anti-candidal agent [36,37,[40][41][42] and have interest as a source of natural products for potential use as alternative drugs to heal many infectious diseases [43][44][45]. Besides cinnamon, other essential oils exhibited high efficacy, as laurel and mint.…”

Effect of Sealing and Tween 80 on the Antifungal Susceptibility Testing of Essential Oils

“…The high antifungal activity of cinnamon bark oil, cinnamaldehyde, citral and carvacrol found in this study was in accordance with those in the literature (1, 21, 27); with regard to the monoterpene hydrocarbon limonene, however, there was a discrepancy in the literature. Janssen et al (12) and Moleyar and Narasimham (21) reported no or minimal inhibitory activity of d-limonene, whereas Chou and Zabkiewicz (6) and Wilson et al (29) mentioned the high activity of d-limonene against fungi. It is not certain whether the discrepancy is due to differences in the test fungi or the assay methods, but our results showed little activity, in consistency with the former.…”

<i>Eucalyptus globulus</i> Oil Versus Bleach Use as Antiseptic Agents in Podoconiosis Treatment: An Interventional Study in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

“…Leave extract of eucalyptus essential oil has been traditionally used to heal wounds and microbial infections [5,6]. In multiple experimental pharmacologic studies, eucalypti had shown antimicrobial activities [7,8,9], and anti-inflammatory activity [10]. Eucalyptus oil also had shown analgesic activity in a clinical pharmacologic study [11].…”