Using essential oils to overcome bacterial biofilm formation and their antimicrobial resistance

The increase of resistant bacteria puts a huge pressure on the antimicrobials in current use. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) results from antibiotic misuse and abuse over many years and is a global financial bur -den. New polices must be developed for the use of antimicrobials and to continue research efforts to mit-igate AMR. It is essential to target the most harmful bacteria and concentrate on their mechanisms of resistance to develop successful antimicrobials. Essential oils (EOs) are occur naturally in plants and have long been used as antimicrobials, but most have not been researched. This review explores EOs as alter-native antimicrobials, investigating their ability to decrease or inhibit biofilm formation, and assess their ability to contribute to AMR control. Low concentrations of EOs can inhibit Gram-positive and Gram -negative pathogenic bacteria. Some EOs have demonstrated strong anti-biofilm activities. If EOs are suc-cessful against biofilm formation, particularly in bacteria developing AMR, they could be incorporated into new antimicrobials. Therefore, there is a need to investigate these EOs' potential, particularly for sur -face disinfection, and against bacteria from food, clinical and non-clinical environments. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The increase of resistant bacteria poses a significant financial burden worldwide, requiring the development of new policies to address the issue. Essential oils have shown potential as alternative antimicrobials, with the ability to inhibit both biofilm formation and pathogenic bacteria, suggesting they could be integrated into new antimicrobial strategies for AMR control.