Antibacterial Activity of Thyme and Lavender Essential Oils

Abstract

Strong antiseptic activity of essential oils has been known for a long time. The antibacterial activity of oils was tested against clinical bacterial strains of Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, Escherichia and Pseudomonas genera. The agar diffusion method was used for microbial growth inhibition at various concentrations of the oils from T. vulgaris and L. angustifolia. Susceptibility testing to antibiotics and chemotherapeutics was carried out using disc-diffusion method. 120 strains of bacteria isolated from patients with infections of oral cavity, respiratory, genitourinary tracts and from hospital environment were investigated. The results of experiments showed that the oil from T. vulgaris exhibited extremely strong activity against all of the clinical strains. Thyme oil demonstrated a good efficacy against antibiotics resistant strains of the tested bacteria. Lavender oil has been less activity against clinical strains of Staphylococcus, Enterococcus and Escherichia genus. The worst results have been observed against all strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Development of antifungal films based on low‐density polyethylene and thyme oil for avocado packaging

“…Natural pesticides based on plant essential oils (EOs) are gaining popularity due to their antimicrobial, allelopathic, antioxidant, and biodegradable properties . The antimicrobial activity of thyme oil ( Thymus vulgaris ) is well documented and is proven to inhibit the fungal and bacterial growth . Moreover, thyme oil is a volatile essential oil which has GRAS status (generally regarded as safe) with an acceptable daily intake of 4.7 g/kg body weight according to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) United States .…”

The Potential of Use Lavender from Vegetable Waste as Effective Antibacterial and Sedative Agents

“…stoechas L.) on Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, and S.aureus showed exhibited a very strong antibacterial activity against the tested bacteria [22]. Similar results obtained for Lavandula stoechas L. growing wild in Turkey [23], and Tunisia [24]. The antibacterial activity of oils from L. angustifolia was tested against clinical bacterial strains of Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, Escherichia and Pseudomonas genera [25].…”

“…The plant samples were identified at the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Environment Management and Agriculture of West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin on the basis of voucher specimen from Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants, Poznan, Poland. In order to isolate the essential oil of lavender leafy stems of two varieties, the amount of 20 g was subjected to a three hours of hydro distillation in the Deryng's apparatus according to the European Pharmacopoeia [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

Evaluation of the Antibacterial Activity of a Sizable Set of Essential Oils

“…One comprehensive report states that thyme oil has potent activity against 120 clinically relevant strains of bacteria, and more importantly, has activity against antibiotic resistant strains as well [10]. Thymol is the major constituent of Thyme oil, and thymol by itself has shown good activity against E. coli, and is thought to work by permeabilizing and depolarizing the bacterial membrane [11].…”