Antibacterial activity of mentha pulegiumessential oil against avian isolated esbl producing bacteria and its synergistic potential with antibiotics

Abstract

The results indicate that Mentha pulegium essential oil with a high amount of pulegone (88.78%) had high inhibitory activity against the tested strains and particularly displays a satisfactory action against the studied ESBL producing bacteria from animal origin, with a diameter ranging from 13 to 26 mm. Out of 51 combinations tested between essential oil and antibiotics 60.78 % showed total synergy, 13.72 % had presented a partial synergy. The best antibacterialactivities were obtained with the combination of Mentha pulegiumessential oil and cefazolin, cefotaxime and gentamycin. Conclusion: This study allowed concluding that Mentha pulegiumessential oil showed not only satisfactory antibacterial properties, but also acts synergistically combined with conventional antibiotics, which make it a promising alternative to antimicrobial drugs; beside that, it might reduce the minimum effective dose of the drugs which minimizes their possible side effects.