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. 2013 Nov 25;6(12):1451-74.
doi: 10.3390/ph6121451.

Effect of essential oils on pathogenic bacteria

Filomena Nazzaro  1 , Florinda Fratianni, Laura De Martino, Raffaele Coppola, Vincenzo De Feo
Affiliations

Effect of essential oils on pathogenic bacteria

Filomena Nazzaro et al. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). .

Abstract

The increasing resistance of microorganisms to conventional chemicals and drugs is a serious and evident worldwide problem that has prompted research into the identification of new biocides with broad activity. Plants and their derivatives, such as essential oils, are often used in folk medicine. In nature, essential oils play an important role in the protection of plants. Essential oils contain a wide variety of secondary metabolites that are capable of inhibiting or slowing the growth of bacteria, yeasts and moulds. Essential oils and their components have activity against a variety of targets, particularly the membrane and cytoplasm, and in some cases, they completely change the morphology of the cells. This brief review describes the activity of essential oils against pathogenic bacteria.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of the envelopes of Gram-positive (on the right) and Gram-negative bacteria (on the left).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mechanism of action and target sites of the essential oils on microbial cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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