OCIMUM BASILICUM AND MENTHA PIPERITA ESSENTIAL OILS INFLUENCE THE ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS STRAINS

Essential oils extracted by microwave assisted hydrodistillation technique from Ocinum basilicum and Mentha piperita were characterized by GC-MS. An adapted diffusion method was used in order to assess the potentiator effect of the essential oils on the susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus clinical and reference strains to some of the currently used antibiotics, i.e. clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, gentamicin, penicillin and erythromycin.. The Ocimum basilicum and Mentha piperita essential oils, exhibited a strong, strain specific influence on the antibiotic susceptibility of the tested strains.