Abstract

Jay Vishwakarma*, Sumit Kumar, Muskan Sondhiya, Ananya Singh, Vicky Kumar, Bhumi Rai and Dr. Jagdish
Chandra Rathi

ABSTRACT

The threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as one of the biggestglobal health challenges of our time. Without prompt action, AMR is likely tobecome the leading cause of death in the world by 2050. The crisis is further fueledby the overuse of antibiotics, which has caused the emergence of multidrugresistantpathogens. Essential oils from plants have been receiving attention asalternatives to antimicrobial drugs due to their antimicrobial nature. This researchpaper set out to compare the antimicrobial activity of oregano oil, clove oil, andneem oil against the gram- negative pathogen Escherichia coli using the discdiffusion method. Oregano oil showed the highest antimicrobial activity with a zoneof inhibition (ZOI) of 22 mm, followed by clove oil at 18 mm and neem oil at 13mm. The better performance of oregano oil is due to its active components,carvacrol and thymol, which disrupt microbial cell membranes. Clove oil which isrich in eugenol, also showed significant activity, while neem oil, containinglimonoids and flavonoids, showed comparatively lower efficacy. These studiesestablish the possibility that essential oils can be prospective antimicrobial agentsderived from natural sources that can potentially bring a solution in managingAMR. Further applications into both human therapy and industrial utilization must,therefore, be pursued.