Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of Some Components of the Essential Oils of Plants Used in the Traditional Medicine of the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley, Puebla, Mexico

In Tehuacan-Cuicatlan valley (Mexico), studies have been carried out on the essential oils of medicinal plants with antimicrobial activity and it was found that they present compounds in common such as: alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, carvacrol, eugenol, limonene, myrcene, ocimene, cineole, methyl salicylate, farnesene, and thymol. The goal of this study was to assess the antimicrobial activity of essential oils' compounds. The qualitative evaluation was carried out by the Kirby Bauer agar diffusion technique in Gram-positive bacteria (11 strains), Gram-negative bacteria (18 strains), and yeasts (8 strains). For the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), the agar dilution method was used. All the evaluated compounds presented antimicrobial activity. The compounds eugenol and carvacrol showed the largest inhibition zones. Regarding yeasts, the compounds ocimene, cineole, and farnesene did not show any activity. The compounds eugenol, carvacrol, and thymol presented the lowest MIC; bactericidal effect was observed at MIC level for S. aureus 75MR, E. coli 128 MR, and C albicans CUSI, for different compounds, eugenol, carvacrol, and thymol. Finally, this study shows that the essential oils of plants used by the population of Tehuacan-Cuicatlan valley share compounds and some of them have antibacterial and fungicidal activity.

Automated summary

In the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan valley of Mexico, essential oils from medicinal plants contain common compounds with antimicrobial activity, with eugenol and carvacrol showing the most significant inhibition zones. Studies have shown that these essential oils have antibacterial and fungicidal properties, providing potential benefits for the local population.