Abstract
The Mentha longifolia leaves, popularly known as Habak mint leaves in the Arabian Peninsula, are utilized in aromatic tea as an ancient tradition, providing a soothing flavour and aiding in the treatment of many ailments, especially the respiratory tract infections due to the release of essential oils in the tea. The fresh leaves of Mentha longifolia were procured from the local market in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The European Pharmacopoeia methodology was used to extract the essential oils by employing Clevenger-type apparatus. The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis for M. longifolia essential oil was performed by deploying a Hewlett Packard 5890 Series II Gas chromatograph outfitted with a flame ionization finder (FID) and a slim HP-5 section. The multi-drug resistant clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were procured from the nosocomial patients by following the standard microbiological isolation and purification technique protocol. The same standard protocol was deployed for the standard strain of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC57858. The standard antibiotic qualitative method of Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method along with the standard quantitative methods of minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration test protocol was deployed towards both the multi-drug resistant clinical isolates and Pseudomonas aeruginosa standard strain ATCC57858 to investigate the efficacy of the standard antibiotics with that of the essential oil. The test results revealed exceptional results, demonstrating the need for such investigations to bring to light the hidden potential of complementary and alternative medicine, which could pave the way to manage the alarming rise in multi-drug resistant variants, which could have been controlled by the proper implementation of standard available testing methods to choose a specific antibiotic for a specific infection rather than irrational use of antibiotics. This study also shows the importance of naturally abundant essential oils in combating even multi-drug resistant pathogens.