Essential oils are widely recognized as natural alternatives to pharmaceutical antibacterial and antifungal agents. With respect to standard pharmaceutics, the advantages of essential oils are their (i) low production costs, (ii) lack of chemical and biochemical drawbacks that are intrinsic to the synthetic production process and (iii) good tolerance by humans. On the other hand, the liquid nature of essential oils poses concerns about their actual application in different therapeutic issues regarding their persistence and the ability to control or prolong drug release. In this study, two essential oils from oregano and winter savory showing antibacterial and antifungal features were complexed in a solid state with beta-cyclodextrin. Host–guest inclusion complexes were characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, ESI-MS and GC-MS techniques. Manyfold terpenic and non-terpenic components of the oils could be observed and unambiguously identified as being included inside the carbohydrate hosts. Many of them provided a specific biocidal action. Indeed, essential oil host–guest inclusion products were tested against two Candida species and an S. aureus reference strain, showing that the oils effectively maintained their liquid performances. Solid-state tablets of the essential oil inclusion complexes embedded in polyvinylpyrrolidone could be obtained. These results pave the way for the solid-state application of essential oils in antibacterial and antifungal pharmaceutical treatments.

Yol. a (¡OH '< rn<> indicated, tests were performed at times of peak activity a> determined during toxicity studies.Determinations were made of 24-lir loxicities, using groups of ten mice at-each dose level, of anticonvulsant activity against electroshock and pentylenetct,razóle,4 and of ability to protect against, strychnine lethality•' and amphetamine aggregation lethality,6 the dose used in the latter test being the same as that in the strychnine test in nearly all cases.Representative compounds were also screened for analgetic7 and antiemeties activity.

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