Essential oil from gum of Pistacia atlantica Desf.: Screening of antimicrobial activity

ABSTRACT

The essential oil from the gum of Pistacia atlantica Desf. grown in Algeria was obtained by the hydrodistillation method; and its antimicrobial activities against the growth of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus; Escherichia coli and Streptococcus pyogenes were evaluated using three different methods; agar disc diffusion and dilution broth methods and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) which was subsequently; determined. The results of the study revealed that essential oil resin of P. atlantica has antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and -negative bacteria which are resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents; and they were considerably dependent on concentration