Screening of essential oils against oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from bovine mastitis

Abstract

Bovine mastitis is a disease with far-reaching consequences for the dairy industry. Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen that is especially resistant to antibiotics. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the essential oils Lippia citriodora (Lam.), Thymus vulgaris (L), and a mixture of the essential oils Lippia citriodora and Thymus vulgaris (50/50 v/v), against isolates of oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (n=15) of positive cases of bovine mastitis. For the statistical analysis, the IBM SPSS statistical package was used. The mixture of essential oils (Lippia citriodora and Thymus vulgaris (50/50 v/v)) obtained the most significant antimicrobial activity in relation to pure essential oils. It is therefore concluded that the mixture of these oils boosts their antimicrobial activity (p<0.05). The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentration of this mixture for the total isolations was 12 µL/L and 25 µL/mL, respectively.