Unique biocide for the leather industry; Essential oil of oregano

WOS: 000251040400002The Origanum species are subshrubs or perennial herbs with several stems ascending or erect, subsessile or petiolate leaves and flowers in verticillasters aggregated in dense or loose spikes which are arranged in paniculate or corymbiform inflorescence. Oregano essential oil is produced from the oregano plant through the process of steam distillation. There are a variety of species referred to as oregano, but the genus Origanum (tribe Mentheae, Labiatae family) is characterized by a large morphological and chemical diversity: their antimicrobial activities are different from each other. It has already been found that the Origanum minutiflorum essential oil has antifungal activity during pickling and wet blue processes and its effectiveness improves with increasing concentration rates.(1) In this investigation, 1% of essential oils from three different oregano species and the oil of Foeniculum vulgare (fennel) were tested for their antimicrobial activity in parallel with 7-25% phenol and 4-chloro-3 methyl as commercial bactericides commonly used in the leather industry. The results showed that three essential oils of oregano had much stronger bactericidal activity than that of the commercial bactericide and the fennel oil. These findings suggested that these oregano essential oils could be used as bactericidal agents in leather industry