surveying the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from selected medicinal plants against human pathogens

Background and objectives: essential oils (eos) with different biological activities, such as antibacterial properties, are a valuable resource for developing new drugs. materials and methods: ingredients of six medicinally important eos, including artemisia dracunculus, anethum graveolens, citrus limon, citrus sinensis, cinnamomum zeylanicum and zingiber officinale, were identified using gc-ms analysis. moreover, their five major compounds were also listed. furthermore, the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (ic50) against four important human bacteria was also investigated using the 96-well plate microdilution. results: c. sinensis eo with ic50 of 1.0 and 4.7 mg.ml^-1 have the most effect on the growth of s. aureus and p. aeruginosa. moreover, eos of cinnamomum zeylanicum (ic50: 1.0 mg. ml^-1) and artemisia dracunculus (ic50: 1.3 mg.ml-1) significantly showed better inhibitory effect on e. coli and k. pneumoniae. conclusion: these eos could be used for developing inexpensive, potent, and green antibacterial agents.