Antibacterial Properties of Essential Oils Essay

Hypothesis: If 3 teaspoons of chopped cinnamon, cloves, mustard, ginger, and garlic steep in half a cup of boiling water for 15 hours and then placed in nutrient agar covered with Staphylococcus epidermis (gram positive) bacteria for 24 hours (in an incubator), garlic will have the strongest antimicrobial effect. This is because of allicin (an active principle of garlic homogenates), which has a chemical reaction with thiol groups of enzymes in the bacteria. Ginger will have the least antimicrobial

- If you use 10 drops of Oregano Oil with two tablespoons of coconut oil, you can create a natural hand sanitizer!

The aim of this investigation was to find out which antiseptics were most effective at preventing the growth of bacteria.

The aqueous extract of T. chebula has been shown to enhance antioxidant status in the liver and kidney and effectively modulate oxidative stress of aged rats.The ethanolic fraction of T. chebula enhance the healing rate of gastric lesions induced by indomethacin and also inhibt lipid peroxidation in the gastric mucosal tissue of rats[87] . In addition, the ethanolic extract has been tested against certain multidrug-resistant bacteria, which includes methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) and extended spectrum β -lactamase-producing enteric bacteria and T. chebula has shown broad-spectrum activity. Also,this extract interact synergistic with tetracycline, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin against S. aureus and/or Escherichia coli ( E. coli)[61]. The butanol fraction of T. chebula fruit had also broad spectrum activity against six intestinal bacteria, particularly Clostridium perfringens and E. coli[62] . A study has also shown that the aqueous extract from T. chebula inhibit inducible nitric oxide synthesis by de- creasing iNOS protein and iNOS mRNA levels.

My results from the lab showed that some household products which are commonly thought of as having antibacterial properties actually showed no signs of being effective against bacteria, while some showed very promising results. The following are the lab results for products tested on their effectiveness on yeast and the bacteria Serratia Marcescens. Even though there was separate testing for yeast and the bacteria, results were the same.

Understanding essential oils can be a little bit confusing for those who have never studied naturopathy. Although they are called oils, they are actually the essence of the plants that they come from. A delicate extraction method is used to steam the herbs and flowers, which gently breaks down the plant material to release the essence. Since it takes many pounds of plant material to produce a small amount of essential oils, the end result is a concentrated liquid that is very potent. If it is used improperly, it can cause harm to a mother and her unborn baby. For this reason, pregnant women should read the following information on how to use essential oils safely:

In the future, any further investigations into the effect of antimicrobial substances may wish to investigate the effect of different leading brands of antiseptic solutions that contain the active ingredient Chloroxylenol, and how they affect the growth of bacteria as well as, whether different ingredients, cause the solution to be more or less effective in inhibiting bacterial growth. This will allow consumers and medical professionals to determine which brand or type of antiseptic solution is the most effective in protecting against pathogens such as

Essential Oils have been used for centuries for holistic healing to promote well being, spirituality and health. The three common ways to use oils are, ingesting, applying to skin and diffusing. When ingesting or applying oils to the skin you should dilute the oils first with a carrier oil. Some of these carrier oils are coconut oil, almond oil, argan oil, and jojoba oil. After you have diluted the oil you can then ingest and apply to the skin. There are many different benefits to using essential oils such as skin care, hair care, sickness, sleep issues, and stress issues. There are over ninety different oils and they each have different issues that they treat. When using oils you have to understand that it takes time to find the right

Inhalation of vapours of the essential oils kill invaders attached to the inner respiratory lining and work synergistically with the body defences. In this study, Five essential oils were used against aspergillus fumingatus using cut plug method and the essential oil showes inhibitory activity against A. flumingatus the most effective oils against A.fumigatus were found to be of Cinnamomum verum (Cinnamon), Lavandula angustifoli (Lavendre), Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel), Zingiber officinale (Ginger) and Cinnamomum camphora(Camphor) with inhibition zones ranging between 11 to 31 mm Treating the organism with cinammom essential oil led to an external changes, irregular cell shape and disintegration of fungus cell wall under transmission electron microscope Analysis by GCMS showed at leas 8 components, esters were the most abundant group of compounds.

The Ancient Egyptians used thymol and carvacrol as protective drug agents to protect preserve of the mummies(15). Thymol are known to destroyed microorganisms due to presence of these compounds(16). In Ancient Greece thymolthyme was employed as improving flavor additive(17). ThymolThyme is also used as antiseptic agent in mouth washes, and sore throats (17). North American wild flowers are natural sources of thymol and it is key ingredient of thyme(18, 19). The Native Americans have recognizedknown the thymol as a potenteffective antimicrobial agent for treatmenthealing of skin infections (19). Drugs made from thymol was used to treat infections of the mouth and throat and prevent of gingivitis (18). for for the first time, thymol was synthesized by the Swedish chemist(20). Researchers have determined the crystal structure and atomic structure of thymol(21).

These results are not particularly conclusive and more research can be done on the inhibition of the growth of E.coli however, with other common and practical substances. A particular weakness of this investigation is the fact that one inhibition test does not necessarily indicate that microorganisms have been killed by an antimicrobial product. It merely shows that the bacteria have been prevented from growing. This means that a constant appliance of the antimicrobial is necessary or the bacteria will simply grow back. If this experiment were to be repeated again, results would be improved by achieving a greater variety of comparison with more possible antimicrobial substances tested and

25 plant species were used in traditional medicine to treat skin disease and to treat antimicrobial (viral, bacterial or protozoan) infections. This experiment was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of traditional Ghanaian medicines with special interest in anti-methicillin-resistant/react-text Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activity. Chloroform, ethanol and aqueous extracts of these plants were arranged and agar-well diffusion tests, MIC's and MBC's were used to examine antimicrobial action. The extracts of 13 plant species showed the growth of one or more of the resulting bacteria, MRSA, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris. Extracts from 11 of these 13 plant species also inhibited the growth of three or more of 14 additional clinical isolates of MRSA. Aqueous extracts of Alchornea cordifolia were active against all 21 bacterial strains tested and showed the highest levels of antibacterial activity overall with MIC's against MRSA in the range of 1.6–3.1 mg ml and MBC's in the range of 6.3–12.5. The presence of antibacterial activity in extracts of Elaeophorbia drupifera, Rauwolfia vomitoria and the leaves of Solanum verbascifolium, plants traditionally used to treat skin infections, are reported for the first time. Extracts from Alchornea cordifolia, also used to treat wounds, had the widest spectrum of antibacterial

Essential oils present in clove helps in preventing fever and sore throat. They help in keeping away germs from the body. Cloves aid in preventing phlegm from the respiratory system. Clove intake promotes sweating thereby helps in reducing fever. Cloves are often slowly chewed to provide relief from sore throat and prevent cough.

Herbal drug therapy is regarded as an important alternative for the treatment of chronic and infectious disease. Ocimum gratissimum has been used extensively in traditional medicine in many countries.The aim of this study was to evaluate antioxidant status and antimicrobial activity of the methanol extract of Ocimum gratissimum (MEOG) and to establish that the antimicrobial activity is due to its antioxidant potentials.The total antioxidant status was evaluated using DPPH and ABTS assays and the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent method to determine total phenolic content of the MEOG.The antimicrobial effect was determined by agar diffusion and broth dilution method against different ATCC strains of pathogenic bacteria. Zones of inhibition, minimum inhibitory (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined. The results indicate that the antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activity of MEOG is mainly due to its total phenolic content

Herbal medicines are great alternative for commercially manufactured medicines available in the market. The major reason why herbal medicine differ from modern medicine is because they are produced with 100% natural content. Therefore the plant extract has all the medicinal values that are as effective as modern medicine. Commercially prepared drugs show results quickly but have numerous side effects. However herbal medicines don’t show any side