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.

Keywords

Essential oilPathogenic bacteriaBacteriaMicroorganismBiologyMicrobiologyChemistryBiotechnologyFood science

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Publication Info

Year
2013
Type
article
Volume
6
Issue
12
Pages
1451-1474
Citations
1916
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Filomena Nazzaro, Florinda Fratianni, Laura De Martino et al. (2013). Effect of Essential Oils on Pathogenic Bacteria. Pharmaceuticals , 6 (12) , 1451-1474. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph6121451

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DOI
10.3390/ph6121451