Antibacterial Activities of Homemade Matrices Miming Essential Oils Compared to Commercial Ones
Sofia Oliveira Ribeiro,
Véronique Fontaine,
Véronique Mathieu,
Zhiri Abdesselam,
Baudoux Dominique,
Stévigny Caroline,
Souard Florence
Affiliations
Sofia Oliveira Ribeiro
Department of Research in Drug Development (RD3), Pharmacognosy, Bioanalysis and Drug Discovery Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Véronique Fontaine
Department of Research in Drug Development (RD3), Microbiology, Bioorganic and Macromolecular Chemistry Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Véronique Mathieu
Department of Pharmacotherapy and Pharmaceutics, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Zhiri Abdesselam
Pranarôm International S.A. 37, Avenue des Artisans, 7822 Ghislenghien, Belgium
Baudoux Dominique
Pranarôm International S.A. 37, Avenue des Artisans, 7822 Ghislenghien, Belgium
Stévigny Caroline
Department of Research in Drug Development (RD3), Pharmacognosy, Bioanalysis and Drug Discovery Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Souard Florence
Department of Pharmacotherapy and Pharmaceutics (DPP), Pharmacology, Pharmacotherapy and Pharmaceutical Care Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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.
