Essential oils (EOs) are known and used for their biological, antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties. Numerous studies have shown that EOs exhibit a large spectrum of biological activities in vitro. The incidence of drug-resistant pathogens and the toxicity of antibiotics have drawn attention to the antimicrobial activity of natural products, encouraging the development of alternative treatments. The aim of this study was to analyse the phytochemical and the cytotoxic characteristic of 36 EOs; we then evaluated the antimicrobial activity of the less-toxic EOs on Gram-positive, Gram-negative and fungi strains. The results showed low cytotoxicity in seven EOs and good activity against Gram-negative and Candida spp. strains. Based on our results, EOs could be proposed as a novel group of therapeutic agents. Further experiments are necessary to confirm their pharmacological effectiveness, and to determine potential toxic effects and the mechanism of their activity in in vivo models.
Keywords: antifungal activity; antimicrobial activity; chemical composition; cytotoxicity; essential oil.