Method to Study Antimicrobial Effects of Essential Oils: Application to the Antifungal Activity of Six Moroccan Essences.

The Micro-atmosphere method of Kellner and Kober was modified and used to study antifungal properties of six essential oils that have different chemical compositions (three chemotypes from mugwort, Artemisia herba alba , one from thyme, Thymus capitatus , one from rosemary, Romarinus officinalis and one from Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus globulus ). They were tested against 39 mold strains (13 from the genus Penicillium , nine from Aspergillus and 17 others). The essential oil from thyme was the most effective, suscessively followed by those from mugwort, rosemary and eucalyptus. The strains studied were classified into three groups: sensitive, intermediate and resistant.