In-vitro Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils Extracted from Locally Available Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Extraction of essential oils from locally available species of four plants, Nigella sativa, Syzygium aromaticum, Cinnamomum tenuis and Curcuma aromatica was carried out using steam distillation followed by ether extraction. Dried and purified extracted oils were screened for their antibacterial activity against three bacterial strains namely, Bacillus lichaniformis (Gram +ve), Micrococcus leutus (Gram +ve) and Salmonella Typhimurium (Gram -ve) using Mc. Cartney’s method. Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) values of these oils were also determined. It was observed that the oils extracted from Nigella sativa and Cinnamomum tenuis were found to be more potent as compared to other two species. With the exception of Nigella sativa, all the other oils showed bacterial inhibition at 50 mmol concentration. These results support that these plant oils can be used to cure bacterial infections and may also have role as pharmaceuticals and preservatives.