The Influence of Carrier Oils on the Antimicrobial Activity and Cytotoxicity of Essential Oils.

The topical use of essential oils requires dilution into a carrier oil; however, scientific evidence regarding the antimicrobial efficacy and cytotoxicity when a carrier oil is combined with an essential oil is lacking. This study sets out to determine the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of 23 essential oils combined with six known carrier oils. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/flame ionization detector (GC-MS/FID) was used to characterize the methyl esters of the carrier oils.