Antimicrobial activities of single aroma compounds.

Commercially available aroma samples were evaluated for their olfactory quality by professional perfumers and tested for their antimicrobial activity. Agar diffusion and agar-dilution were used as test methods and a set of two Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and four Gram-negative bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris G, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella abony) and a yeast, Candida albicans, were the test microorganisms. All the investigated compounds were active against Gram-positive bacteria, especially beta-caryophyllene against Enterococcus faecalis (MIC 6 ppm), but only few substances showed activity towards Gram-negative bacteria, except for cinnamic acid, which was active against all (MIC 60 ppm) and Candida albicans, against which cinnamic acid and caryophyllene oxide showed high activity (MIC < 60 ppm).