Antimicrobial Activities of Clove and Thyme Extracts

Objective: It has been postulated that geographical locations of the herbs affect the constituents of their essential oilsand thus the degree of their antimicrobial action. This study examine two samples of clove obtained from Sri Lanka and Zanzibarand two samples of thyme from Iran and Oman to determine the antimicrobial potential of their extracted oils. Method: The activeagents in each plant were extracted by steam distillation and by boiling. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were determinedat neat and by two-fold dilutions in well agar diffusion technique using Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichiacoli, Streptococcus pyogenes, Corynebacterium species, Salmonella species, Bacteroides fragilis and Candida albicans. Results: Alloil extracts possessed antimicrobial activity against all bacteria and yeast tested. Their water extracts exhibited lower antimicrobialactivity, though thyme aqueous extract was active only against S. aureus. The lowest concentration of antimicrobial activity (0.ÆÌ%i.e., ÆÌ:ÆÌ024) was obtained with thyme oil extract using Candida albicans. There was no significant difference in antimicrobial activitybetween clove obtained from Sri Lanka or Zanzibar or thyme obtained from Iran or Oman. Conclusion: Our experiment showed thatthe country of origin of the herbs has no effect on their antimicrobial activity. However, further work is necessary to ascertain whyCandida albicans displayed remarkable degree of sensitivity with the extracts than all the other organisms test.