Study of the sensitivity of certain bacteria –pathogenic human health- to atlas cedar essential oils and antibiotics

Abstract

The spread of microbial resistance around the world is one of the most serious threats to public health. Every year one to three antibiotics are released to the market, as each antibiotic has a limited effective lifespan after which microorganisms develop resistance. The need to identify new natural antimicrobial agents is an important research goal at the global level. The use of volatile plant extracts as antimicrobial agents represents a low risk for the development of resistance by microorganisms because these products are made up of several phytocompounds from different groups which work in synergy. The objective of this work is to test, in vitro, the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of cedrus atlantica against six bacterial strains; Salmonella sp, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and streptococcus sp. And three strains of yeast; Candida Tropicalis, Candida Albicans, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. With the aim of researching new effective antibacterial substance with a broad spectrum of action. The results of the quantitative analysis showed a richness in certain compounds identified by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry; β-Himachalene, α-Himachalene, himachalene oxide and Limonene. The essential oil to show a significant antibacterial effect compared to the synthetic antibiotics tested Piperacillin 30 µg (PRL30) and Ampicillin 10 µg (AMP 10).