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.