An alarming increase in biofilm forming methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) possesses a serious problem in hospital environment demands a renewed effort to seek agents from natural system that are effective against pathogenic bacteria resistant to current antimicrobials. In the study, the distribution of biofilm forming MRSA and the antibacterial activity of essential oils (Eucal...

Concern about the deleterious effects associated with synthetic chemicals has revived interest to explore plants as a source of natural insecticides for mosquito control. Ethnobotanical studies conducted in Kenya on plant species including bush mint, Hyptis suaveolens Poit., showed that many of them repel mosquitoes effectively when burned overnight in rooms. Recent field works conducted with H...

Circumstantial evidence based on ultrastructural correlation, specific labeling, and subcellular fractionation studies indicates that at least the early steps of monoterpene biosynthesis occur in plastids. (4S)-Limonene synthase, which is responsible for the first dedicated step of monoterpene biosynthesis in mint species, appears to be translated as a preprotein bearing a long plastidial trans...

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is an important medicinal herb belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae. In this study, the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extract from Nepeta cataria, and its essential oil composition were investigated. The essential oil, which has 4aalpha,7alpha,7abeta-nepetalactone (70.4%), 4aalpha,7alpha,7abeta-nepetalactone (6.0%)...

Essential oils are volatile compounds, extracted from plants, which have a strong odor. These compounds are known for their antibacterial and antifungal properties. However, data concerning degradation of mycotoxins by these metabolites are very limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of essential oils (cedarwood, cinnamon leaf, cinnamon bark, white grapefruit, pink ...

Ruminal inoculum enriched with particle-associated microorganisms was collected from rumen cannulated Santa Inês wethers grazing tropical grass pasture and a supplement based on ground corn and soybean before feeding and used to evaluate effects of some commercial essential oils (EO) on ruminal fermentation and methane emission in vitro. The investigated EOs were orange EO (Citrus sinensis, CrS...

In 1994, its second full production year, field-grown meristemmed 'Black Mitchum' peppermint performed differently than in 1993, when compared with a non-meristemmed treatment in a field trial at the OSU-COARC. The difference between years may be partly attributed to better meeting the fertility and soil moisture needs of meristemmed plants in 1994. Plants were not moisture-stressed near harves...