Mantil Elisabeth, Daly Grace, Avis Tyler J
a Department of Chemistry, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.
Can J Microbiol. 2015 Jan;61(1):82-8. doi: 10.1139/cjm-2014-0667.
There has been increased interest surrounding the use of tea tree oil (TTO) as a natural antimicrobial. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of TTO and its components were investigated in vitro and in a predominantly lipid-based personal care formulation. In vitro, TTO showed minimal inhibitory concentrations of 0.2% (for Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pythium sulcatum), 0.4% (for Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Rhizopus stolonifer), and 0.8% (for Botrytis cinerea). TTO at 0.08%-0.8% was often as efficient as parabens. Comparison of the antimicrobial activities of TTO components showed that terpinen-4-ol and γ-terpinene were generally most effective in inhibiting microbial growth. TTO activity in a personal care product was evaluated through air and water exposure, artificial inoculation, and shelf life studies. While TTO did not increase shelf life of unopened products, it decreased microbial load in products exposed to water and air. Results from this study support that antimicrobial activity of TTO can be attributed to varying levels of its components and that low levels of TTO were effective in reducing microbial growth during the use of the product. This study showed that TTO can act as a suitable preservative system within an oil-based formulation.
围绕茶树油（TTO）作为一种天然抗菌剂的使用，人们的兴趣日益浓厚。在本研究中，对TTO及其成分的抗菌活性进行了体外研究，并在一种主要基于脂质的个人护理配方中进行了研究。在体外，TTO对酿酒酵母和沟腐霉的最低抑菌浓度为0.2%，对大肠杆菌、枯草芽孢杆菌和匍枝根霉为0.4%，对灰葡萄孢为0.8%。0.08%-0.8%的TTO通常与对羟基苯甲酸酯一样有效。TTO成分抗菌活性的比较表明，萜品-4-醇和γ-萜品烯通常在抑制微生物生长方面最有效。通过空气和水暴露、人工接种以及保质期研究，对个人护理产品中TTO的活性进行了评估。虽然TTO没有延长未开封产品的保质期，但它降低了暴露于水和空气中的产品中的微生物负荷。本研究结果支持，TTO的抗菌活性可归因于其不同水平的成分，并且低水平的TTO在产品使用过程中对减少微生物生长有效。这项研究表明，TTO可以在油基配方中作为一种合适的防腐体系。
