Essential Oils Inhibiting Fungal Growth
by: …
December 14, 1999
Mycology
Research Paper
Dr. …
Introduction: Essential oils have been used for
centuries. Today, the oils are used for a wide variety
of things: insect repellants, spices, perfumes, to name
a few. However, the most significant usage for the oils
may be in the medical community. The research consisted
of comparing different essential oils on their ability
to inhibit dermatophyte growth. The three most common
dermatophytes are Trichophyton, Epidermophyton, and
Microsporum. The organism was isolated from the clinical
symptoms of tiena pedis. Inhibition was based on growth
in area per time in hours. The hypothesis being all
essential oils used will inhibit/withhold the growth of
the dermatophytes. The experiments failure or success
will be interesting since there are very few natural
anti-fungal agents around, and because there are
published works claiming that certain essential oils
are fungicidal. However, this experiment’s foundation
and research is based from a fungalstatic point.
Methods: Five different essential oils and one blend
of oils (a synergy) were used. All the oils are 100%
pure and were not diluted. They were as follows ti-tree,
myrrh,lavender, eucalyptus, patchouli, and a fungal oil
blend. The media that was used to grow the fungus was
sabaroad dextrose agar. Using these six different oils
and comparing individually their ability to inhibit
growth is the concept behind the methods. There were
five plates for each oil and five plates for each of
the two constants. The two constants were olive oil as
C l and water as C 2. Application of these oils to the
media was done in two ways for each plate. First, a
filter paper immersed in oil with an area of about 1.0cm2
was placed approximately 2.5cm from the center of the
plate. The second method of applying the oil was by
making a well in the media approximately 2.5cm from
the center. The wells’ area was about 4.O cm2.This was
followed by adding five drops of oil in the well using
a disposable pipette. The total distance between the two
applications was 5.0cm. Finally, the organism was placed
in the center of the media, the center being 4.25 cm from
the edge of the plate. From a fully grown colony, all
organisms were extracted using a needle stick. The
difference in amount of organism inoculated from oil to
oil and from plate to plate was insignificant. The entire
procedure was done under a hood and proper sterile
technique was used.
Measurements were done at 72 hours and
96 hours after inoculation:
growth in cm. squared
|
t
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.00 |
|
e
|
0.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.01 |
|
blend
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
0.08 |
|
l
|
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.30 |
|
p
|
11.5 |
19.5 |
19.5 |
10.0 |
16.5 |
15.30 |
|
m
|
19.5 |
19.5 |
19.5 |
20.0 |
16.5 |
19.00 |
|
c 1
|
19.0 |
19.0 |
16.5 |
16.5 |
15.5 |
17.30 |
|
c 2
|
16.5 |
19.5 |
16.5 |
16.5 |
16.5 |
17.10 |
|
t
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| blend |
0.0 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
2.0 |
0.60 |
| l |
3.5 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
1.60 |
| e |
4.5 |
1.5 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
1.80 |
| p |
19.5 |
30.0 |
33.5 |
15.0 |
29.5 |
25.50 |
| m |
33.5 |
33.5 |
30.0 |
37.0 |
30.0 |
32.80 |
| c
1 |
39.0 |
34.5 |
34.5 |
30.5 |
34.5 |
34.60 |
| c
2 |
34.5 |
37.0 |
30.5 |
34.0 |
30.5 |
33.30 |
Discussion: In conclusion, the research turned out
to be extremely interesting since the results were so
dramatic from oil to oil. The hypothesis was rejected:
all the oils did not withhold or inhibit fungal growth.
The ones that did, though, were remarkable as the data
and photographs show.
|
|
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