Essential oils are a promising source of drugs having antimicrobial activity
Introduction. Infectious and inflammatory diseases of the skin and mucosa are common worldwide. Antibiotics and synthetic chemotherapeutic agents having antibacterial and antimycotic activities frequently cause a number of adverse reactions. In this connection, it is very important to investigate the antimicrobial properties of plants due to the fact that the latter contain essential oils. Objective: to screen the antimicrobial activity of natural essential oils and their components. Material and methods. The investigation was performed according to the targeted screening system for microbial inhibitors under biological control. Serial dilution tests in vitro experiments were used to examine the antimicrobial activity of 200 samples of essential oils and substances against 7 pathogenic bacterial strains. The antifungal activity, general toxicity, and chemotherapeutic efficacy of ferkon were studied in in vitro experiments using a guinea pig model of microsporia. Results. Essential oils are of interest during the directed search for microbial inhibitors and the design of effective drugs based on the latter. The new natural compound ferkon derived from the essential oils of giant fennel (Ferula) exhibited high and significant antifungal activity. Conclusion. The essential oils differ in the degree of antimicrobial activity. They should be used to affect various pathogenic strains of gram-positive bacteria, as well as causative agents of superficial dermatomycoses in order to design new original drugs.