Eucalyptus oil - champion biofilm Buster by Tizona

five different types of essential oils tested against biofilms. Which one was the winner?

these two different studies compared the effectiveness of five different essential oils , as well as a chlorine based antiseptic, against biofilm.

The essential oils tested were peppermint, spearmint, eucalyptus,Ginger grass, and clove.

of all these five essential oils, the oil that was consistently most effective in destroying biofilms was eucalyptus oil. Not only did it outperform the other essential oils, it also easily outperformed the chlorine-based antiseptic.

Coming in at a close number two was peppermint oil. by the way, in the second study "mentha spicata" is spearmint oil.

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Prevention of Candida albicans biofilm by plant oils.

Agarwal V, Lal P, Pruthi V.

Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand 247667, India. vishudbs@iitr.ernet.in
Abstract

The inhibitory effect of 30 plant oils was evaluated against biofilm forming Candida albicans strain (CA I) isolated from clinical samples, which was sensitive to 4 microg/ml of fluconazole, used as a positive control. The standard strain (MTCC 227, CA II) used in this study was found to be highly resistant to fluconazole, 3,000 microg/ml of which was required to inhibit the growth of this strain partially, and complete inhibition could not be achieved. Eighteen among the 30 plant oils tested were found to show anti-Candida activity by disc diffusion assay.

Effective plant oils were assessed using XTT (2, 3-bis [2-Methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulphophenyl]-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide) reduction assay for biofilm quantification.

Four oils eucalyptus, peppermint, ginger grass and clove showed 80.87%, 74.16%, 40.46% and 28.57% biofilm reduction respectively. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were calculated using agar dilution assay.

Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis further revealed reduction in C. albicans biofilm in response to effective oils. The substantial antifungal activity shown by these plant oils suggests their potential against infections caused by C. albicans.

PMID: 17968673 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Abstract: Objectives: To assess the antimicrobial effects of Mentha spicata and Eucalyptus camaldulensis essential oils and chlorhexidine against Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus pyogenes, with a particular focus on in vitro and in vivo biofilm formation.

Methods: The essential oils were analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry. In vitro and in vivo antimicrobial and biofilm preventing activities of the oils were studied.

Results: Fifteen and 21 compounds were identified in the essential oils of M. spicata and E. camaldulensis respectively. Minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC) of the M. spicata and E. camaldulensis oils were found to be 4 and 2 mg ml⁻¹, and those of chlorhexidine (2%) were 8 and 1 mg ml⁻¹ for both S. mutans and S. pyogenes respectively. Decimal reduction time of S. mutans by M. spicata and E. camaldulensis oils at their MBC levels was 2.8 min, while that of cholrhexidine was 12.8 min. D-value of S. pyogenes exposed to the MBC levels of M. spicata and E. camaldulensis oils and of chlorhexidine were 4.3, 3.6 and 2.8 min respectively

. Antibacterial and in vivo biofilm preventive efficacies of all the concentrations of eucalyptus oil were significantly (P < 0.001) higher than that of M. spicata oil and chlorhexidine. In conclusion, essential oils are capable of affecting biofilm formation.

Conclusion: The essential oils from E. camaldulensis and M. spicata significantly retard biofilm formation that can contribute to the development of novel anticaries treatments.