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Comparative evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of 19 essential oils

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Book cover Advances in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AMIDPH,volume 901))

Abstract

In our research on natural compounds efficient against human pathogen or opportunist microorganisms contracted by food or water, the antimicrobial activity of 19 essential oils (EOs) was investigated against 11 bacterial species (6 Gram positive, 5 Gram negative) and 7 fungal species (2 dermatophytes, 1 mould, 4 yeasts) using microdilution assays. Five essential oils were obtained from Tunisian plants (EOtun): Artemisia herba-alba Asso, Juniperus phoenicea L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Ruta graveolens L. and Thymus vulgaris L., whereas others were commercial products (EOcom). Overall, T. vulgaris EOtun was the most efficient EO against both bacteria (Gram negative: MIC ≤ 0.34 mg/mL; Gram positive: MIC ≤ 0.70 mg/mL) and fungi (yeasts: MIC ≤ 0.55 mg/mL; mould: MIC = 0.30 mg/mL; dermatophytes: MIC ≤ 0.07 mg/mL). Two EOcom displayed both acceptable antibacterial and antifungal potency, although weaker than T. vulgaris EOtun activity: Origanum vulgare EOcom (bacteria: MIC ≤ 1.13 mg/mL, fungi: MIC ≤ 1.80 mg/mL), and Cymbopogon martinii var. motia EOcom (bacteria: MIC ≤ 1.00 mg/mL, fungi: MIC ≤ 0.80 mg/mL). Bacillus megaterium, Legionella pneumophila, Listeria monocytogenes and Trichophyton spp. were the most sensitive species to both EOcom and EOtun. This study demonstrated the noteworthy antimicrobial activity of two commercial EOs and points out the remarkable efficiency of T. vulgaris EOtun on all tested bacterial and fungal species, certainly associated with its high content in carvacrol (85 %). These three oils could thus represent promising candidates for applications in water and food protections.

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Acknowledgments

This Work was partially supported by grants from the CMCU (09G824), PHC Utique and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Tunisia. The authors would like to acknowledge Mrs. Florine Steinthal and Professor Vic Norris for revising the English text.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Author notes

  1. Naouel Chaftar

    Present address: Université de Rouen, LMSM - EA 4312, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, 76821, Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Ecologie Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267, Bât. D1, 6 rue de la Milétrie, TSA 51115, 86073, Poitiers Cedex 9, France

    Naouel Chaftar, Marion Girardot, Jacques Frère & Christine Imbert

  2. Faculté de Médecine, UR08-45, Département de Biochimie, Avenue Mohamed Karoui, 4002, Sousse, Tunisie

    Naouel Chaftar, Tawfik Ghrairi & Khaled Hani

  3. Université de Poitiers, IC2MP, UMR CNRS 7285, 4 rue Michel Brunet, 86022, Poitiers Cedex, France

    Jérôme Labanowski

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  1. Microbial Biofilm Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Gianfranco Donelli

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Chaftar, N. et al. (2015). Comparative evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of 19 essential oils. In: Donelli, G. (eds) Advances in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 901. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2015_5011

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