Title:Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) Essential Oil Concentration in Microemulsion
with Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity: An Overview
Volume: 18
Issue: 4
Author(s): Prashant Upadhyay*, Pooja Malik and Sukirti Upadhyay
Affiliation:
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, IFTM University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, Pin code-
244102, India
Keywords:
Antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, antimicrobial activity, tea tree oil, Melaleuca alternifolia, microemulsion.
Abstract: The tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia), a member of the Myrtaceae family, is a valuable medicinal
and aromatic plant. Tea Tree essential oil (TTO) has many medical applications, including antibacterial,
antifungal, antiviral, antiprotozoal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer properties.
Although the concentration of TTO in a microemulsion is of economic interest, very few studies
on this product have been conducted. In this study, we look at how different tea tree oil concentrations
in microemulsion formulations affect susceptibility to various bacteria and fungi. TTO susceptibility
in a diverse range of microbial species has now been studied using data from a previously published
literature review survey. Most bacteria are resistant to TTO at concentrations as low as 1.0 percent,
but mucosal skin staphylococci and micrococci, Enterococcus faecalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
have minimum inhibitory concentrations much higher than 2 percent. TTO susceptibility in fungi has
only recently been scrutinized. Fungicidal dosages range from 0.12 to 2 percent, with minimum inhibitory
concentrations ranging from 0.03 to 0.5 percent and the only notable exception is Aspergillus
niger, which contains fungicidal concentrations of up to 8%. The review emphasizes the importance of
new antibacterial and antifungal formulations, as well as the role of natural essential oils in the discovery
of new antibacterial and antifungal agents, and discusses, in brief, all constituents derived from
the essential oil (tea tree) that are in preclinical and clinical development. This paper summarizes human
and food-borne bacteria and fungi susceptibility to tea tree essential oils and their constituents.
Among the many tested, essential oils of spices and herbs (Melaleuca alternifolia) were found to have
the strongest antimicrobial properties. This review looks at a wide range of scientific literature, including
Sci-hub, Google Scholar, Pub, Chem, NCBI, and web books.
