Antibacterial activities of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) essential oil and ethanol extract

The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition and antibacterial potential of rosemary essential oil and ethanol extract to improve its physicochemical and antibacterial properties. the essential oil yield of rosemary leaves was 1.76 % and the predominant compounds were 1,8-cineole (57.55 %), camphor (8.82 %), α-pinene (8.83 %), borneol (5.54 %) and camphene (2.36 %). Rosemary extract had an important amount of total phenolic content with 28.47 mg GAE/g DW. However, flavonoids and condensed tannins were weakly present in rosemary extract having 2.59 mg QE/g and 1.02 mg CE/g, respectively. Rosemary ethanol extract was mainly characterized by the predominance of carnosic acid (58.71 mg /g) and rosmarinic acid (16.51 mg/g). The antibacterial activity of rosemary essential oil and ethanol extract was determined against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecalis.