Antimicrobial evaluation of two essential oils from Vaccinium corymbosum and Moringa oleífera leaves against Escherichia coli bacteria

Abstract

The use of essential oils has increased notably due to their bactericidal, fungicidal and antioxidant characteristics. The objective of this research was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity in a combination of the two essential oils in the control of Escherichia coli under in vitro conditions. The essential oils were obtained through the steam distillation method and subjected to decantation. 7 treatments and 3 repetitions were carried out, the treatments contain different percentages of the oils (T1:75%-25%, T2:50%-50%, T3:25%-75%, T4:100%-0%, T5:0%-100% T6: penicillin and T7: erythromycin) these last-mentioned antibiotics were witnessed and all the treatments contain 10 μl. The characteristics evaluated are the inhibition halos and the colony-forming units (CFU). An analysis of variance and the Tuckey test at 5% probability were applied. As a result, treatment 3 presented an average of 26.15 mm of inhibition halos and an average microbial load of 28.5 in (CFU) before the different treatments. In conclusion, it was evidenced that the combination of essential oils at 50% in both have a high inhibitory power against Escherichia coli bacteria in vitro conditions.