Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential Oil from Laurel

Objective To investigate the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil from laurel,to lay the foundations for development and application of laurel in treating infectious diseases.Methods Minimum inhibitory concentrations(MICs)of the essential oil of laurel against 65strains of bacteria,14strains of Candida albicans and 1strain of non-Candida albicans were determined by agar dilution method.The data were analyzed using statistical software SPSS 17.0,and multifactor analysis of variance(ANOVA)was used to compare the differences between different microorganisms.Results The essential oil from laurel had no effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and the laurel oil showed different antibacterial activity to different species of other experimental bacteria,with MICs ranging from 0.27mg/mL to 2.15mg/mL.The laurel oil had strong activity against Candida albicans and nonCandida albicans,with MICs 0.07-0.54 mg/mL,0.03 mg/mL,respectively.The laurel oil had higher activity against Candida albicans than S.aureus and E.coli(P0.01),and the oil had higher activity against Acinetobacter lwoffii than S.aureus and E.coli(P0.01).Conclusion The essential oil from laurel showed broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity so to make it a potential candidate as antimicrobial agent to treat infectious diseases.