Comparative antibacterial activity of five Lamiaceae essential oils from Algeria

The essential oils of five Algerian Lamiaceae species, Thymus numidicus, Thymus fontanesii, Teucrium polium subsp. aurasiacum, Teucrium atratum and Rosmarinus officinalis, obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus, were tested against bacterial strains of Bacillus subtilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Salmonella typhimurium, Serratia marcescens and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC. The essential oil of Thymus numidicus exhibited the strongest antibacterial activity, reported for the first time from a Lamiaceae species.