ABSTRACT
One of the rst systematic in vitro examinations of the antimicrobial activity of essential oils dates back to the late nineteenth century when Buchholtz studied the growth inhibitory properties of caraway oil, thyme oil, phenol, and thymol on bacteria having been cultivated in a tabac decoction. In this examination, thymol turned out to be 10-fold stronger than phenol (Buchholtz, 1875), which was in use as surgical antiseptic at that time (Ashhurst, 1927). The German pharmacopoeia “Deutsches Arzneibuch 6” (DAB 6) issued in 1926 and later supplements (1947, 1959) listed together 26 essential oils, and by this it has become obvious that essential oils have a long history in pharmaceutical practice due to their pharmacological activities. The European Pharmacopoeia 6th edition issued in 2007 lists 28 essential oils. Among them are 20 oils already present in DAB 6 (anise, bitter fennel, caraway, cassia, cinnamon bark, citronella, clove, coriander, eucalyptus, juniper, lavender, lemon, matricaria, neroli, peppermint, pine needle, pumilio pine, rosemary, thyme, and turpentine), three oils have been previously listed in the British Pharmacopoeia in the year 1993 (dementholized mint, nutmeg, and sweet orange), one in the French Pharmacopoeia X (star anise), and ve oils were added later (cinnamon leaf, clary sage, mandarin, star anise, and tea tree).
