IN VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT ESSENTIAL OILS FROM Lavandula sp.

The objective of this work was to highlight the antimicrobial properties of lavender essential oil (EO) obtained from the George 90 cultivar, which is the newest lavender cultivar approved in Romania for oil production. In order to highlight its antimicrobial properties, the essential oil obtained from the George 90 cultivar was tested in comparison with two other essential oils (EOs) obtained from the species Lavandula latifolia and Lavandula angustifolia, these two lavender species being the parents of the new George 90 cultivar. Three food pathogenic fungi (Aspergillus brasieliensis ATCC 16404, Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium expansum), two food spoilage bacteria (Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis) and six species of phytopathogenic molds (Alternaria sp., Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium culmorum FC46, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici ZUM2407 (FORL), Macrophomina phaseolina and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) were used in this study. In all the interactions with phytopathogenic agents and bacteria studied, a close relationship was observed between the antifungal potential and the dose of essential oils tested. Thus, as expected, increasing the dose of lavender essential oil is directly proportional to the inhibition effectiveness of the tested microorganisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]