ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF AROMATIC CONSTITUENTS OF ESSENTIAL OILS

Five aromatic constituents of essential oils (cineole, citral, geranio l, linalool and menthol) were tested for antimicrobial activity agains t eighteen bacteria (including Gram-positive cocci and rods, and Gram- negative rods) and twelve fungi (three yeast-like and nine filamentous ). In terms of antibacterial activity linalool was the most effective and inhibited seventeen bacteria, followed by cineole, geraniol (each of which inhibited sixteen bacteria), menthol and citral aromatic comp ounds, which inhibited fifteen and fourteen bacteria, respectively. Ag ainst fungi the citral and geraniol oils were the most effective (inhi biting all twelve fungi), followed by linalool (inhibiting ten fungi), cineole and menthol (each of which inhibited seven fungi) compounds.