Thymus capitatus essential oil:: Extraction and evaluation of its antibacterial properties

The aim of this study is to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of thyme essential oil (Thymus capitatus) against six bacterial strains recognized as pathogenic, namely: E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella sp. and Proteus mirabilis. Our methodology consists first of extracting the essential oil from Thymus capitatus through hydrodistillation, then evaluating the antimicrobial activity of this oil using an aromatogram, and finally testing the resistance of the bacterial strains using the micro-atmosphere test. The results show that the essential oil of thyme has a bacteriostatic effect on all strains tested except E. coli and that the oil has a bactericidal effect at 1/250.