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. 2021 May 14;10(5):584.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics10050584.

Antibacterial Activities of Homemade Matrices Miming Essential Oils Compared to Commercial Ones

Sofia Oliveira Ribeiro  1 , Véronique Fontaine  2 , Véronique Mathieu  3 , Zhiri Abdesselam  4   5 , Baudoux Dominique  4 , Stévigny Caroline  1 , Souard Florence  6   7
Affiliations

Antibacterial Activities of Homemade Matrices Miming Essential Oils Compared to Commercial Ones

Sofia Oliveira Ribeiro et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

The increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a worldwide concern. Essential oils are known to possess remarkable antibacterial properties, but their high chemical variability complicates their development into new antibacterial agents. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to standardize their chemical composition. Several commercial essential oils of ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi L.) and thyme (chemotype thymol) (Thymus vulgaris L.) were bought on the market. GC-MS analysis revealed that thyme essential oils have a chemical composition far more consistent than ajowan essential oils. Sometimes thymol was not even the major compound. The most abundant compounds and the homemade mixtures were tested against two Staphylococcus aureus strains. The antibacterial property of β-caryophyllene presented no direct activity against S. aureus LMG 15975, but in association with thymol or carvacrol at equal percentages an MIC of 125 μg/mL was observed. The mixture of those three compounds at equivalent percentages also decreased by 16-fold the MIC of the penicillin V. Against S. aureus LMG 21674, β-caryophyllene presented an MIC of 31.3 μg/mL and decreased by 267-fold the MIC of the penicillin V. These observations led us to question the benefits of using a complex chemical mixture instead of one active compound to fight bacterial resistance.

Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus; Thymol; ajowan essential oil; antibacterial activity; thyme essential oil; β-caryophyllene.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors S.O., V.F., V.M., C.S. and F.S. declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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