Potential of rosemary oil to be used in drug-resistant infections.

[James]

Altern Ther Health Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;13(5):54-9.

Potential of rosemary oil to be used in drug-resistant infections.

Luqman S, Dwivedi GR, Darokar MP, Kalra A, Khanuja SP.

Source

Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Division, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Lucknow, India.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the antimicrobial activity potential of the essential oil of rosemary specifically for its efficacy against the drug-resistant mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans.
METHOD:

Antibacterial, antifungal, and drug resistance-modifying activity was evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively following disc diffusion and broth dilution assay procedures.
RESULTS:

The rosemary essential oil was found to be more active against the gram-positive pathogenic bacteria except E. faecalis and drug-resistant mutants of E. coli, compared to gram-negative bacteria. Similarly, it was found to be more active toward nonfilamentous, filamentous, dermatophytic pathogenic fungi and drug-resistant mutants of Candida albicans.
CONCLUSION:

Our findings suggest that characterization and isolation of the active compound(s) from the rosemary oil may be useful in counteracting gram-positive bacterial, fungal, and drug-resistant infections.

[James]

Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2011 Jul;32(1):63-8. Epub 2011 Mar 30.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Rosemary.

Jiang Y, Wu N, Fu YJ, Wang W, Luo M, Zhao CJ, Zu YG, Liu XL.

Source

Key Laboratory of Forest Plant Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, PR China.

Abstract

The composition of the essential oil of Rosemary was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 22 components, which constitute 97.41% of the oil, were identified. The major constituents were 1,8-Cineole (26.54%) and α-Pinene (20.14%). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) and time-kill dynamic processes against three Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis), three Gram-negative bacteria (Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) and two fungi (Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger) were determined for the oil, 1,8-Cineole and α-Pinene. The oil showed pronounced antibacterial and antifungal activity than 1,8-Cineole and α-Pinene against all of the tested microbes. Furthermore, the survival rates and morphological changes of S. aureus after treatment with different concentrations of the essential oil were assessed by flow cytometry (FCM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).

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