The aim of our project was to discover a new antimicrobial extracted from some medicinal plants. We choose Thymus vulgaris, Thymus capitatus and Melaleuca alternifolia. Then we extracted the essential oils from these plants by means of steam distillation. We discovered that there is no synergy between these three plants and that they are powerful bactericides, both on Gram+ and Gram- bacteria, even at minimum concentrations. Our three essential oils have three main fields of application. Firstly, they can be used in the synthesis of an antimicrobial pesticide for some diseases caused by bacteria. Secondly they may be applied to preserve food from bacteria attack and finally we found that even the vapors of pure thymol could be used to equip conditioners in order to sanitize environments.

Scientific field

Biology

Country

Italy

Contestants

Sofia Onorato
Daniel Vasilica Copil