Essential Oils - A Bacterial Combater

Essential oils and volatile constituents extracted from Aromatic plants are frequently used in folk medicine for prevention and treatment of different human diseases. In the present study, four Essential oils (Punga oil, Sesame oil, Santhalum album and Mustard oil) were collected and its antibacterial activity was investigated. Maximum inhibitory activity was observed in Santhanathi oil when compared to the other Essential oils. The Santhanathi oil showed maximum zone of inhibition was recorded against Bacillus cereus (46 mm) followed by Shigella flexneri (45 mm), Staphylococcus aureus (44 mm), Salmonella typhi (42 mm), Klebsiella pneumoniae (40 mm) and Escherichia coli (30 mm). Minimum zone of inhibition was noticed in Acetobacter baumani (20 mm). No zone of inhibition was seen in DMSO blind control. Results of our study recommend the possibility of using the essential oil as natural antibacterial in food or pharmaceutical industry. It can be concluded that the plants investigation have opened up a new perspective in pharmaceutical research and they can be used for the development of potential, novel antibacterial agents for the treatment of bacterial diseases.