Composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Satureja montana L. collected in Serbia and Montenegro

The chemical composition of the essential oil of Satureja montana L. subsp. montana (Lamiaceae), obtained from the air-dried plant material by hydrodistillation, was analyzed using GC and GUMS. The major components were thymol (33.4%) and p-cymene (28.8%). The essential oil was tested against five bacterial species by the agar well diffusion technique. All of the bacteria are potential skin contaminants. The oil and its 5% solution in ethanol showed antimicrobial activity against all of the tested bacteria. The most susceptible organisms were Corynebacterium sp., while the most resistant organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa.