ANTIMICROBIAL APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERNET PLANT ESSENTIAL OILS
Tahira Mohsin, Hira Sarfaraz and Malik Umar Farooq Gohar*
ABSTRACT
Essential oils are natural, aromatic, volatile and lipid soulble compounds. These are extracted from various methods such as hydro or steam distillation, expression method, carbon hypocritical method and solvent extraction. Major constituents of plant essential oils are terpenoids, terpenes and aromatic compounds. Almost all PEOs have antimicrobial activity as they disrupt the cellular metabolism of microbial cells by various mechanisms. PEOs also exhibit some biological effects like cytotoxicity, phototoxicity, nuclear and cytoplamic mutagenicity. Essential oils of different plants like Oregano, Cinnamon and Basil have different antibacterial, antifungal properties. PEOs have various applications in medical as well as in food industry. These are used as food preservative due to their antimicrobial activity. Due to their aromatic properties, PEOs are widely used in flavoring of foods and in making aroma and perfumes.
Keywords: Essential oils, Chemical composition, Antimicrobial activity, Biological effects, Food preservative.
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