See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311792001 Antimicrobial Activity of Basil, Oregano, and Thyme Essential Oils Article in Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology · December 2016 DOI: 10.4014/jmb.1608.08024 CITATION READS 1 369 2 authors: Hercules Sakkas Chrissanthy Papadopoulou University of Ioannina University of Ioannina 29 PUBLICATIONS 199 CITATIONS 85 PUBLICATIONS 1,121 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Food Microbiology and zoonotic diseases View project Application of Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy in the disinfection of root canal system. PhD Thesis. View project All content following this page was uploaded by Hercules Sakkas on 29 March 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (2017), 27(3), 429–438 https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1608.08024 Research Article Review jmb Antimicrobial Activity of Basil, Oregano, and Thyme Essential Oils Hercules Sakkas* and Chrissanthy Papadopoulou Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece Received: August 10, 2016 Revised: October 3, 2016 For centuries, plants have been used for a wide variety of purposes, from treating infectious Accepted: December 14, 2016 diseases to food preservation and perfume production. Presently, the increasing resistance of First published online microorganisms to currently used antimicrobials in combination with the appearance of December 20, 2016 emerging diseases requires the urgent development of new, more effective drugs. Plants, due *Corresponding author to the large biological and structural diversity of their components, constitute a unique and Phone: +30-26510-07769; renewable source for the discovery of new antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic Fax: +30-26510-07886; E-mail: [email protected] compounds. In the present paper, the history, composition, and antimicrobial activities of the basil, oregano, and thyme essential oils are reviewed. pISSN 1017-7825, eISSN 1738-8872 Copyright© 2017 by Keywords: Essential oils, basil, oregano, thyme, antimicrobial activity The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology Introduction Historical Review One of the actions to counter the emergence of the drug In ancient Greece, medicinal plants were extensively resistance problem is the development of new antimicrobials. used by rhizotomists, the persons related to therapeutic Plant essential oils are explored as a promising substitute herb collection and supply [3]. The Chinese, Indians, to currently used antimicrobials, and to date, many plant Egyptians, Romans, and Arabs also relied on herbalism, essential oils have been reported to present considerable which was assimilated into the philosophical principles, antimicrobial activity. This activity is attributed to their traditions, and practices of their culture. Consequently, ability to synthesize aromatic substances, the majority of therapeutics developed from being empirical and instinctive which are phenols or oxygen-substituted derivatives. to being magical and theocratic. The theocratic viewpoint The antimicrobial, antiseptic, and other therapeutic constituted an element of all ancient civilizations, including applications of plants are well recognized since the prehistoric the Greeks, until the advent of the Hippocratic School, which times, widely used by all civilizations throughout the was based on observation and experiment. Hippocrates millennia [1]. Interestingly, according to the World Health himself (late 5th century BC) mentioned 300-400 medicinal Organization, approximately 80% of the world population, plants [5]. Plant-derived therapeutic oils are mentioned on mostly in developing countries, still relies on medicinal clay findings of cuneiform writing (2600 BC) in Mesopotamia plants and their extracts for primary health care [2, 3]. The [1], while about 30 medicinal plants are described in the contemporary pharmaceutics, cosmetics, and food industries Bible [5]. In Dioscourides’ work De Materia Medica (1st are founded on the knowledge of the properties of century AD), herbal medicaments are described, providing medicinal plants that can be used for applications from the knowledge for most of the later medicinal preparations treating infectious, systematic, and inflammatory diseases [1]. to food preservation and perfume production [4]. The aim The great empires controlled the medicinal plants’ of the present paper is to review the antimicrobial activities production and trade for centuries, while in the Middle Ages of three essential oils; namely, the basil, oregano, and their cultivation in abbeys and monasteries facilitated the thyme essential oils. development of knowledge on their therapeutic properties. A 2016 ⎪ Vol. 26⎪ No. 0 430 Sakkas and Papadopoulou During the Ottoman Empire, many Orthodox monasteries liquid chromatography are used as well [14]. established hospitals within their premises, where remedies were prepared from medicinal plants cultivated by the Bioactivities monks. In a monastic script of this period in the island of The use of essential oils is extensive, since they are used Cyprus (1571–1878), 494 herbal prescriptions and 231 as main ingredients in cosmetics, perfumes, body and hair plants belonging to 70 different botanical families were care products, antiseptic oral solutions, and toothpastes, as described [6]. In Greece, for centuries, a large part of the well as in domestic cleaning products and air fresheners native population health problems was encountered by [15, 16]. Aromatherapy, which was a common therapeutic empirical doctors such as the renowned “Vikoyiatroi” of practice in antiquity, particularly in Egypt and India, still the Zagori region in Epirus (17th–19th century), who remains widespread under the supervision of official collected and used medicinal plants from the nearby Vikos authorities, such as the Aromatherapy Organizations Canyon [7]. Eventually, with the advancement of modern Council in the United Kingdom. It is based on the use of medicine, traditional remedies were gradually abandoned essential oils, which, due to their ability to get easily in the developed world [5]. absorbed by the skin, are used for the relief of symptoms in However, medicinal plants are nowadays being re- allergic and rheumatic conditions, displaying anti-aging, examined, their extracts are thoroughly studied, and their revitalizing, and anti-inflammatory activities [17, 18]. Over properties are revised in an effort to complement or replace the past years, the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens the existing synthetic chemical substances used in the drew the attention on essential oils for their potential modern food and drug industries. antimicrobial properties. Owing to the large biological and structural diversity of their components, they are believed Essential oils to constitute a unique and renewable source for the discovery of much needed new antimicrobials. Based on a Composition recent search in the PubMed database, the published The term “essential oil” was used for first time by studies on their antimicrobial activities exceed by far the Paracelsus (16th century), who named the effective component number of studies related to other bioactivities (Table 1). of each drug “quinta essentia” [8]. The components of This fact signifies the importance of the antimicrobial essential oils, a total of about 500 compounds, include potential among various bioactivities of the essential oils. terpenes (monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes), terpenoids Although there are many studies on the antibacterial (isoprenoids), and aliphatic and aromatic compounds such as aldehydes and phenols [9-11]. It is possible for the Table 1. Publications related to various bioactivities of predominant components to constitute 85% of the total essential oils (PubMed search 9/29/2016). concentration of the oil [12]. It is estimated that there are Activity Number of publicationsa about 3,000 well-recognized essential oils, of which 300 are Antimicrobial 2671 widespread traded [9]. The composition of the essential oils Antioxidant 1186 depends on various factors, including environmental Anti-inflammatory 587 conditions, the soil composition and cultivation method, Analgesic 388 the season and time of the day when the plant was picked, the storage and processing conditions, the oil extraction Anticancer 108 method, and analysis of the chemical components [2, 8]. Sedative 102 Essential oils are produced from plants by means of Spasmolytic 73 distillation, fermentation, crushing, extraction, hydrolysis, Wound healing 44 and airing, but the most frequent method is steam Immunomodulatory 34 distillation [2, 12]. Distillation as an essential oil production Anti-allergic 22 method was used by the Egyptians, Indians, and Persians Gastroprotective 13 two millennia ago and was improved by the Arabs in the Anti-aging 5 th 9 century AD [12]. The isolation of the constituting Antidepressive 5 components is achieved by chromatographic methods, mostly Pain relief 4 with the use of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry aKeywords used: “name of activity,” “essential oil” (e.g., antioxidant activity, [12]. Thin layer chromatography, [13] and high performance essential oil). J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oils 431 activities of essential oils, the results of these studies differ Organization