الفهرس 
acknowledgmentOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 133 |  |  |
| | | from | 133 | | |
Abstract
In view of the increasing antibiotic resistance of some pathogens, the increasing acceptance of natural alternative substances, as well as, the increasing use of essential oils in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries; the chemical composition and the antimicrobial activity of some oils extracted from indigenous medicinal plants were investigated.
A total of twelve medicinal plants including anise (Pimpinella anisum), caraway (Carum carvi), celery (Apium graveolens), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), cumin (Cuminum cyminum), dill (Anethum graveolens), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), lavender (Lavandula officinalis), marjoram (Origanum majorand), peppermint (Mentha piperitd), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) were obtained from the farm of SEKEM Company. Essential oils were extracted from these plants by steam distillation and their chemical composition was analyzed using GC/MS. The antimicrobial activity of the extracted essential oils was assessed against seven pathogenic strains including three Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereits, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureiis), three Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella typhimurium) and one yeast strain (Candida albicans). Furthermore, the M.I.Cs were determined for all the extracted oils against all the tested pathogens.