Evaluation of disinfection effect of Ajowan on Pseudomonas aeruginosa

 Increasing antibiotic resistance in most bacteria has led to the development of natural antimicrobial compounds. The purpose of this study was to investigate the disinfection effect of Ajowan essential oil (EO) on the standard strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

In this study, the essential oil was prepared by distillation of Ajowan. The components of the essential oil were separated and identified by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Then the antibacterial effects of two combinations including Ajowan EO +dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and glutaraldehyde 2% on standard strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were evaluated and determined using dilution broth and disk diffusion methods.

The results of the study showed that the most component of the essential oil consist of: Thymol (50%), P-cymene (23.6%), and Terpinen (20.3%). The mean values of MIC in the antibacterial substances (Ajowan EO+DMSO,   Glutaraldehyde 2%) were 83 and 125µg/mL respectively. The mean values of MBC for abovementioned substances were 125 and 166 µg/mL respectively. The mean diameter of the inhibition zone in the MIC concentration was 11and 12.66 mm respectively.

According to the obtained results, Essential oils Ajowan has similar effect of glutaraldehyde 2% on Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It may be a possible substitute to glutaraldehyde in hospital disinfection purposes.