Bioactivity of essential oil from Hertia cheirifolia L. flowers in the control of bacteria

To date, numerous studies have demonstrated beneficial properties of essential oils in the prevention and treatment of a variety of diseases. The current report evaluated, in vitro, the antibacterial activity of essential oil from the flowers of Hertia cheirifolia L. This oil was obtained by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus. The antibacterial activity of the waterdistilled essential oil of H. cheirifolia L. was evaluated against Gram positive microorganisms, namely Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Bacillus licheniformis and Gram negative bacterial strains, namely Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, Salmonella enteric IPC 8039 and Salmonella typhimirium using the microdilution method in sterile 96 well microplates. The numerical values of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were also determined. Regarding the obtained results, the highest antibacterial activities of essential oils were found against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Bacillus licheniformis both having an identical MIC value of 0.078 mg/mL. Our study showed that the use of the essential oil of H. cheirifolia flowers could be considered as a natural source to inhibit the growth of tested pathogenic bacteria.