Antimicrobial activity of chamomile flowers essential oil (matricaria chamomilla l.)

Chamomile is a highly appreciated plant due to a whole range of therapeutic characteristics providing numerous benefits for the human body and being well accepted both by human body organs and systems, and skin. The purpose of this research is the chemical determination and studying the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil obtained from the flowers of Matricaria chamomilla L. The volatile oil was highlighted by hydrodistillation, and the quality of the mixture was achieved by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) method. Two samples were considered and processed, namely Chamomillae aetheroleum obtained from the chamomile flowers from the Crişul Negru Plain at the village of Talpoş, Bihor county as compared to the Solaris chamomile oil extract which is industrially obtained. The results obtained by thin-layer chromatography indicated the presence of three volatile compounds namely: bisabolol oxide, bisabolol, and farnesene. The antimicrobial activity of the volatile oil was studied by the standardized Kirby-Bauer Disk Diffusion Susceptibility Test Protocol. Following the evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of the volatile oil of Matricaria chamomilla, a strong antimicrobial activity could be observed against all the microorganisms subjected to testing. Significant levels in terms of antibacterial potential were determined in the case of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.