Table 4: Antibiogram Pattern of E. Coli (mtcc-443) against Group Specific Antibiotics, Natural Oil, Synthetic Blends and Constituents

Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 241 March April 2008 London: Churchill Livingstone; 1975. Rath CC, Dash SK, Mishra RK. In vitro susceptibility of Japaneese 2. mint leaf oil against five human fungal pathogens. Indian Perfumer 2001;45:57-61. Baswa M, Rath CC, Dash SK, Mishra RK. Antibacterial activity of 3. Karanj (Pongamia pinnata) and Neem (Azadirachta indica) seed oil: A preliminary report. Microbios 2001;105:183-9. Mishra D, Patnaik S, Rath CC, Dash SK, Mishra RK, Patnaik U. 4. In vitro antibacterial susceptibility test of some newly synthesized organic complexes. Indian J Pharm Sci 2002;64:256-9. Bauer AW, Kirby WM. Sherris JC. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by 5. standard single disc method. Am J Clin Pathol 1966;36:493-6. Rath CC, Dash SK, Mishra RK. Antifungal efficacy of six Indian 6. essential oils individually and in combination. J Essential Oil Bearing Plants 2002;5:99-107. Gupta R, Rath CC, Dash SK, Mishra RK. In vitro antibacterial potential 7. assessment of carrot (Daucus carota) and celery (Apium graveolens) seed essential oils against twenty one bacteria. J Essential Oil Bearing Plants 2004;7:79-86. Senhaji O, Faid M, Kalalou I. Inactivation of E. coli 0157:H7 8. by essential oil from Cinnamomum zeylanicum. Braz J Infect Dis 2007;11:234-6. Rath CC, Mishra S, Dash SK, Mishra RK. Antisaphylococcal activity 9. of lime and Juniper essential oils against MRSA. Indian Drugs 2005;42:797-801. Brul B, Coot P. Preservative agents in foods mode of action and 10. microbial resistance mechanism. Int J Food Microbiol 1999;50:1-17. Sikkema J, de Bont Jam, Poolman B. Mechanism of membrane toxicity 11. of hydrocarbons. Microbiol Rev 1995;59:201-22. Wilkins KM, Boerd RG. Natural antimicrobial systems. In: Gould GW, 12. editor. Mechanism of action of food preservation procedures. London: Elsevier; 1989. and increasing the permeability to ATP through cytoplasmic membrane. Similarly, Rath et al9, also reported the anti staphylococcal activity of Juniper and Lime essential oils against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) through inhibition of cell membrane synthesis that corroborates with the findings observed in this investigation. The antibacterial activity of essential oils through membrane inhibition could be attributable to the hydrophobicity of essential oils, enables them to make partitions in the membrane, rendering permeability and leading to leakage of cell contents resulting in death of microbial cells10-12.