Antimicrobial Effect of Some Essential Oils
Flora V. Romeo, Serena De Luca, Amalia Piscopo, Marco Poiana
Journal of Essential Oil Research
Abstract
Abstract Commercially available oils of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.), lemon-balm (Melissa officinalis L.), juniper berry (Juniperus communis L.), lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora Kunth), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.) were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity. Analyses of the oils by GC-FID and GC/MS revealed that the major constituents of these oils were linalool (23.1%) and linalyl acetate (23.1%) in lavender, citronellal (23.8%) and geranial (11.6%) in lemon-balm, α-pinene (29.2%) in juniper berry, neral (36.2%) and geranial (41.9%) in lemon verbena, 1,8-cineole (24.4%) and camphor (17.1%) in rosemary, α-pinene (31.1%) and δ-3-carene (18.6%) in cypress oil. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was evaluated on survival and growth of some microorganisms potentially dangerous to the safety of foods (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria innocua). The antimicrobial tests were carried out both in solid and in liquid media. E. coli was the most sensitive organism among the tested ones to the inhibition effect of the oils.
Extracted Claims
14 claims extracted from this paper into the knowledge graph
α-pinene is a major constituent of juniper berry oil
“The major constituents of these oils were α-pinene (29.2%) in juniper berry”
geranial is a major constituent of lemon verbena oil
“The major constituents of these oils were neral (36.2%) and geranial (41.9%) in lemon verbena”
camphor is a major constituent of rosemary oil
“The major constituents of these oils were 1,8-cineole (24.4%) and camphor (17.1%) in rosemary”