Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oils

Dear Colleagues,

Essential oils are volatile and colorless liquids representing the finest aromatic extracts obtained by steam distillation from plants. Each oil is characterized by aromatic chemically pure constituents at room temperature and is subjected to restricted standards of purity. The composition is rich and complex and consists of compounds belong to various chemical classes: terpenes, mostly monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes; terpenoids namely oxygenated compounds such as phenols, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones or ethers and aromatic and aliphatic constituents with low molecular weights. In essential oils there are also a series of minor compounds that can modulate the biological action. Each of bioactive component could show several biological activities including antibacterial and bactericidal ones which have shown growing interest in recent years, proving effective even on strains resistant to several drugs used in the medical field. The antibacterial activity of essential oils depends on their chemical composition and the quantity of each individual compound. In this context it is crucial to carry out a chemical characterization of essential oils in order to describe a volatile profile and identify the possibly responsible molecules of the antimicrobial effect.

This Special Issue is designed to collect scientific papers on essential oils antimicrobial activities and their chemical composition. For this aim, wil be appreciated papers dealing with biological essays to test the activity against microorganisms and chemical analysis techniques to characterize essential by the identification and quantification of individual compounds and their mixtures will be appreciated.

Dr. Stefania Garzoli
Guest Editor

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