Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Sep 14:2:35.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2015.00035. eCollection 2015.

Potential of Plant Essential Oils and Their Components in Animal Agriculture - in vitro Studies on Antibacterial Mode of Action

Corliss A O'Bryan  1 , Sean J Pendleton  1 , Philip G Crandall  1 , Steven C Ricke  1
Affiliations
Review

Potential of Plant Essential Oils and Their Components in Animal Agriculture - in vitro Studies on Antibacterial Mode of Action

Corliss A O'Bryan et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of essential oils and their components has been recognized for several years. Essential oils are produced as secondary metabolites by many plants and can be distilled from all different portions of plants. The recent emergence of bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics has spurred research into the use of essential oils as alternatives. Recent research has demonstrated that many of these essential oils have beneficial effects for livestock, including reduction of foodborne pathogens in these animals. Numerous studies have been made into the mode of action of essential oils, and the resulting elucidation of bacterial cell targets has contributed to new perspectives on countering antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity of these bacteria. In this review, an overview of the current knowledge about the antibacterial mode of action of essential oils and their constituents is provided.

Keywords: antibacterial; essential oils; foodborne pathogens; mode of action; quorum sensing.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Deans SG, Ritchie G. Antibacterial properties of plant essential oils. Int J Food Microbiol (1987) 5:165–80.10.1016/0168-1605(87)90034-1 - DOI
    1. Hammer KA, Carson CF, Riley TV. Antimicrobial activity of essential oils and other plant extracts. J Appl Microbiol (1999) 86:985–90.10.1046/j.1365-2672.1999.00780.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sánchez E, García S, Heredia N. Extracts of edible and medicinal plants damage membranes of Vibrio cholerae. Appl Environ Microbiol (2010) 76:6888–94.10.1128/AEM.03052-09 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fraenkel GS. The raison d’etre of secondary plant substances. Science (1959) 129:1466–70.10.1126/science.129.3361.1466 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tajkarimi MM, Ibrahim SA, Cliver DO. Antimicrobial herb and spice compounds in food. Food Control (2010) 21:1199–218.10.1016/j.foodcont.2010.02.003 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources