Antimicrobial activity of essential oils of Rosmarinus officinalis L., Thymus mastichina (L) L. spp mastichina and Thymus albicans Hofmanns & Link.

摘要

Essential oils, hydrodistilled from leaves of R. officinalis, T. mastichina subsp. mastichina and T. albicans (collected from Portugal), were analysed by GC. The main constituents of R. officinalis essential oil were alpha-pinene (14%), myrcene (18.9%) and alpha-terpineole (12.88%). The main constituents of the essential oil of T. mastichina subsp. mastichina were 1,8-cineole [eucalyptol] (46.29%) and camphor (10.77%), whereas the essential oil of T. albicans was characterized by 1,8-cineole (57.49%) and borneol (14.49%). All essential oils exhibited activity against a battery of bacterial species including 3 strains of Listeria monocytogenes.