Chemical Composition, Antibacterial Properties and Mechanism of Action of Essential Oil from Clove Buds against Staphylococcus aureus.
The essential oil of clove has a wide range of pharmacological and biological activities and is widely used in the medicine, fragrance and flavoring industries. In this work, 22 components of the essential oil obtained from clove buds were identified. Eugenol was the major component (76.23%). The essential oil exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.625 mg/mL, and the antibacterial effects depended on its concentration and action time. Kill-time assays also confirmed the essential oil had a significant effect on the growth rate of surviving S. aureus. We hypothesized that the essential oil may interact with the cell wall and membrane first. On the one hand it destroys cell wall and membranes, next causing the losses of vital intracellular materials, which finally result in the bacterial death. Besides, essential oil penetrates to the cytoplasmic membrane or enters inside the cell after destruction of cell structure, and then inhibits the normal synthesis of DNA and proteins that are required for bacterial growth. These results suggested that the effects of the clove essential oil on the growth inhibition of S. aureus may be at the molecular level rather than only physical damage.
College of Food Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China. xujg@sxnu.edu.cn.|College of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China. xujg@sxnu.edu.cn.
Jian-Guo
JG
Xu
College of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China. liuyu1961119@163.com.
Ting
T
Liu
College of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China. hqp72@163.com.
Qing-Ping
QP
Hu
College of Food Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China. sxsd456@sina.com.
Xin-Ming
XM
Cao
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D045783:Clove Oil / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000254:growth & development*; D027842:Syzygium / Q000737:chemistry*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D045783:Clove Oil; D009822:Oils, Volatile
DNA; Staphylococcus aureus; alkaline phosphatase; electron microscope; essential oil; membrane permeability; protein