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ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECTS OF OREGANO (ORIGANUM VULGARE) AGAINST GRAM NEGATIVE BACILLI

NAZIA MASOOD AHMED CHAUDHRY, SABAHAT SAEED AND PERWEEN TARIQ

Abstract: The oil, aqueous infusion and decoction of oregano (Origanum vulgare), of the family  Limiaceae, were asessed for antibacterial activity against 11 different genera of Gram–ve bacilli viz., Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter sp., Enterobacter aerogenese, Escherichia coli, Flavobacterium sp., Klebsiella ozaenae, K. pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, S. paratyphi B, Serratia marcescens and Shigella dysenteriae, by disc diffusion method. Oregano oil exhibited the highest activity against Citrobacter species with mean zone of inhibition of 24.0 mm ± 0.5. The aqueous infusion also showed significant inhibitory activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.1 mm ± 6.1 SD), Klebsiella ozaenae (19.5 mm ± 0.5 SD) and Enterobacter aerogenes  (18.0 mm). Besides, all isolates were found resistant to the aqueous decoction of oregano seeds.

Department of Microbiology, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan