Abstract
Essential oils (EOs) are volatile, liquid substances that come from natural sources such as plants. As secondary metabolites of most plant species, that are typically found in leaf chloroplasts or from the hydrolysis of certain glycosides, their primary function is to combat attacks from predators as well as attract pollinators. Due to their biological activity, EOs have gained popularity in industries such as food processing, cosmetics, and personal care products as well as the pharmaceutical industry. In this study, the antimicrobial nature and antioxidant activity of Saudi Arabian EOs were compared with the antimicrobial activity of known antibiotics. Disc diffusion method was used for the assessment of the bactericidal activity of local EOs. The antioxidant activity was determined using phosphor molybdenum method. Furthermore, RAPD-PCR was used to compare the effects of these EOs on DNA in both untreated and treated pathogenic bacterial strains. Bacterial strains with varying antibiotic resistance potential have been successfully isolated. The inhibition zone measurement revealed that the EOs used had some antibacterial effects on the bacterial strains as well as some selectivity on the bacterial strains that they acted on.