Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of Two Different Essential Oils Against Mastitis Associated Pathogens

Abstract

Mastitis is one of the most common and costly diseases affecting dairy cows worldwide.Since antibiotic resistance has become a global threat to both animal and human health,it is becoming more urgent to continuously search for new therapeutical alternativesfor the control and treatment of bovine mastitis. Hence, our research aimed to testthe therapeutic use of two essential oils (EOs) based on their chemical composition,antibacterial and antioxidant potential. The present study was conducted by collectingmilk samples from the cows diagnosed with clinical or subclinical mastitis with theaim of isolating and identifying bacterial strains. The antioxidant potential of essentialoils of Menthae piperitae (MP) and Melissa officinalis (MO) was evaluated in several in vitroassays. In the MP EO, a total of 38 compounds were identified, with menthol as thedominant compound, whereas in MO EO 51 compounds were identified. Furthermore,the values of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal bactericidalconcentrations (MBCs) have been used to quantitatively measure the antibacterialactivity of each essential oil. In accordance with which, MP EO samples exhibited ahigher degree of antibacterial activity than MO EO. Thus, EOs have been shown tobe promising alternatives to antibiotics because of their availability, biodegradability,and lower risk of side effects as compared with conventional, antimicrobial treatment.Nevertheless, further clinical studies are needed to test the potential role of EOs intreating mastitis in dairy cows