The Antimicrobial and Toxicity Influence of Six Carrier Oils on Essential Oil Compounds

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 28; no. 1; p. 30
• Main Authors: Moola, Salehah, Orchard, Ané, van Vuuren, Sandy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Antiinfectives and antibacterials; antimicrobial; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; carrier oils; Chemical properties; Dietary minerals; Drug resistance; E coli; Essences and essential oils; essential oil compound; Essential oils; Fatty acids; Gram-negative bacteria; Gram-positive bacteria; Health aspects; Lymphocytes; minimum inhibitory concentration; Oils & fats; Oils and fats; Organisms; Pathogens; Selectivity; selectivity index; Toxicity; South Africa; thymoquinone; toxicity; antimicrobial; carrier oils; essential oil compound; Calendula officinalis; Prunus armeniaca; selectivity index; percentage mortality; ESKAPE; minimum inhibitory concentration
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules28010030

Essential oil compounds have been identified as alternative antimicrobials; however, their use is limited due to their toxicity on human lymphocytes, skin, and reproduction. Carrier oils can reduce the toxicity of essential oils, which raises the question as to whether such activity would extend to the essential oil compounds. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial and toxicity activity of essential oil compounds in combination with carrier oils. The antimicrobial properties of the essential oil compounds, alone and in combination with carrier oils, were determined using the broth microdilution assay. The toxicity was determined using the brine shrimp lethality assay. Antimicrobial synergy (ΣFIC ≤ 0.50) occurred in 3% of the samples when tested against the ESKAPE pathogens. The compound thymoquinone in combination with the carrier oil demonstrated broad-spectrum synergistic activity and a selectivity index above four, highlighting this combination as the most favorable. The carrier oils reduced the toxicity of several compounds, with and carrier oils being responsible for the majority of the reduced toxicity observed. This study provides insight into the interactions that may occur when adding a carrier oil to essential oil compounds.