Antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Pimenta racemosa var. racemosa (Myrtaceae) leaves

Context: Essential oils represent a therapeutic alternative in natural products against pathogenic bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics and threaten public health and individual health of patients. Aims: To determine the antimicrobial activity of two essential oils of different densities, obtained by hydrodistillation of Pimenta racemosa var. racemosa fresh leaves collected from Táchira, Venezuela against different multirresistant bacterial strains of nosocomial origin. Methods: Disc diffusion agar method was carried out against seven reference strains: Candida albicans (CDC-B385), Candida krusei (ATCC 6258), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 23357), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and three different bacterial strains of nosocomial origin: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae. Results: The essential oils of Pimenta racemosa var. racemosa inhibited the development of all microorganisms tested with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 20 to 400 μL/mL. Conclusions: This is the first report concerning antimicrobial activity of essential oils obtained from Pimenta racemosa var. racemosa collected from Táchira, Venezuela with different densities. Furthermore, results showed the essential oils of this species might be an alternative as antimicrobial agent for the pharmaceutical industry.