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OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL ISSN: 2148-6832
MSD
Medical Science and Discovery
2018; 5(11):374-9
Review Article
Doi: 10.17546/msd.482929
Received 15-11-2018 Accepted 20-11-2018 Available Online 21-11-2018 Published 30-11-2018
1 Ondokuz Mayis University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aquatic Animal Diseases, Kurupelit Campus, Samsun, TR
2 University of Amasya, Faculty of Science, Dept of Biology, Amasya, TR
3 Hakkari University, Faculty of Engineering Dept of Biomedical Engineering, Hakkari, TR
* Corresponding Author: Ayhan Guler E-mail: ayhanguler@hakkari.edu.tr Phone: +90 (438) 212 12 12
Antibacterial Activity of Laurus nobilis: A review of literature
Belgin Sırıken1, Ceren Yavuz2, Ayhan Güler3*
Introduction
Antibiotic or multiple antibiotic resistance (MDR)
microorganism particularly pathogen bacteria has
dramatically increased in human and animal. Therefore,
resistance microorganism caused diseases have posed a risk
in human and treated public health. Due to these resistance
properties of microorganism, researchers started looking for
alternative way for treatment or for preventing diseases.
Nowadays, ingredients obtained from plants, like essential
oil, can be used as alternatives to antibiotics. Bay laurel,
cinnamon, oregano and clove like plants have antimicrobial
activity against both some Gram negative and positive
microorganisms (1). In this review, L. nobilis (bay leaf) and
its effects as antimicrobial properties against some
microorganism are highlighted.
Laurel (L.) nobilis (bay leaf) is an aromatic plant and
evergreen tree which belongs to the family of Lauraceae, it
is one of the most widely used culinary spices in all
Western countries and Asian countries.
It is cultivated and endemic in the Mediterranean countries
of Turkey, Spain, Morocco, Greece, Portugal, as well as in
Mexico and other temperate and warm parts of the world.
This aromatic tree is 2 m to 10 m high (2). The plants
inherently cultivated in coastal areas to an altitude of 600-
800 meters. The plant’s leaves and berries are commonly
used as a spice aroma and enhancer for foods especially for
meats, sauces and soups (3). Besides its special aroma, it is
also used to cure diseases all over the world. Some
compounds of this plant such as essential oils and organic
acids have shown strong antibacterial activity against some
foodborne pathogen microorganism besides spoilage
bacteria (4, 3,5,6).
Essential oil is a hydrophobic liquid compartment obtained
from various parts of plant such as flowers, seeds and
stems. Because of its aromatic characteristic, essential oil is
used in as a flavoring agent in cosmetic and food industries
Abstract
The presence of phenolic compounds in spices and herbs, along with the essential oils, has been gaining attention due to
their various functions like antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial properties, and flavoring properties. The Bay leaf belongs
to Lauraceae family and is endemic in the Mediterranean region. Lauraceae, is an aromatic plant frequently used as a
spice in Mediterranean cookery and as a traditional medicine for the treatment of several infectious disease. L. nobilis
also belongs to Lauraceae. L. nobilis is aromatic tree, and is 2 m to 10 m high. L. nobilis contains about 1.3% essential
oils and polar flavonoids mono, sesquiterpenes, alkoloids, glycosylated flavor-noids, megastigmane and phenolic
components. It is known to have various pharmacological effects, including antimicrobial, cytotoxic and immune
modulating. Its’ essential oil containg eucalyptol, α-terpinyl acetate, linalool, methyl eugenol, sabinene and carvacrol.
The property of every essential oil varies according to the harvest country, altitude, period of sunshine, conditions of
harvest. These essential oil contents of L. nobilis are strong antibacterial activity against Gram negative and Gram
positive foodorne pathogens (Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Esherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes like that),
spoilage bacteria (Pseudomonas aeroginosa) as well as antifungal effects. The synergy between terpenes (linalool),
lactones, oxides (1,8 cineole) and monoterpenes (camphene, alpa-pinene) gives to the essential oil of Laurel a good
antibacterial activity. Its essential oils’ various or single chemical compositions at different concentrations have differen t
inhibition mechanisms that can affect a variety of pathogens by changing membrane permeability, denaturing proteins
and inhibiting enzymes. The oils are not affecting on existing beneficial intestinal bacteria.
Key words: Essential oils, Laurus nobilis, Antibacterial Activity, Review
Siriken et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.17546/msd.482929
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Medical Science and Discovery, 2018; 5(11):374-9
It has also biologic effects such as antimicrobial,
antidiabetic and anticancer activities (4). The plant’s
essential oils have antimicrobial activity (1). Therefore,
essential oils have been shown to have advantages as
natural antimicrobials. These oils’ various chemical
compositions or single components at different
concentrations have different inhibition mechanisms that
can affect a variety of pathogens by changing membrane
permeability, denaturing proteins and inhibiting enzymes. It
has also shown effective antimicrobial activity against
drug-resistant strains (7).
Essential oil of bay leaves
The property of every essential oil varies according to the
country of harvest, period of sunshine, conditions of
harvest, quality of the distillation, storage and usage (8).
However, it is generally reported that the basic components
of the essential oil of bay leaves are 1.8-cineole, linalool
and a-terpinyl acetate (9).
In addition, it has also some phenolic components such as
epicate-chin, procyanidin dimer, procyanidin trimer,
flavonol and flavonederivatives and many volatile active
components such as a-pinene, ß-pinene, myrcene,
limonene, linalool, methyl chavicol, a-terpineol, geranyl
acetate, eugenol and chavicol. All these compounds are
known as antimicrobial (3,6), anti-oxidant (6), digestive
and anti-cancer and immune modulating (10).
There have been detailed analyses on of essential oil of
obtained from bay leaf. For instance, the GC/MS analysis
reports that, the main components of oil are: an ether-oxide
of terpenic nature: 1.8 cineole or eucalyptol (35.31%),
which is the main component of the essential oil of Bay
leaf, and considered as drug and phenologic stadium of the
Bay leaf. Linalool and camphene are present as
monoterpenes. Sesquiterpenes represented by
sesquiterpenic lactones (cadinene and caryophyllene)
constitute 22% of the oil. Terpinol (3.18%) is predominant
alcohol.
From Turkey, (5) it was reported that the major
components detected in bay laurel essential oil were
eucalyptol (27.2%), α-terpinyl acetate (10.2%), linalool
(8.4%), methyl eugenol (5.4%), sabinene (4.0%) and
carvacrol (3.2%). In Table 1, chemical composition of L.
nobilis essential oil is shown.
Table 1. Chemical compositions of L. nobilis essential oil (3)
Compounds
RT
Composition (%)
1.
α-Thujene
9.4
0.2
2.
α-Pinene
9.7
3.7
3.
Sabinene
12
10.1
4.
β-Pinene
12.1
2.8
5.
Myrcene
13.1
0.9
6.
α-Phellandrene
13.8
0.5
7.
1,8-Cineole
15.7
51.8
8.
γ-Terpinene
17.3
0.5
9.
trans-Sabinene hydrate
17.8
0.6
10.
cis-Sabinene hydrate
19.9
0.4
11.
Linalool
20.2
1.9
12.
Pinacarvone
24.1
0.1
13.
Terpinen-4-ol
25.3
3.1
14.
α-Terpinenol
26.2
5.2
15.
Bornyl acetate
30.7
0.1
16.
Pseudolimonene
31.9
0.4
17.
α-Terpinyl acetate
33.1
11.2
18.
Eugenol
33.3
0.4
19.
Neryl acetate
33.6
0.3
20.
β-Elemene
34.4
0.4
21.
Methyl eugenol
34.8
0.8
22.
Germacrene
37
0.1
23.
Bicyclogermacrene
37.4
0.2
24.
β-Eudesmol
41.3
0.3
25.
Elemol
41.3
0.1
26.
Eremanthin
48.7
0.1
27.
1,2 Benzenedicarboxylic acid
70.0
0.4
Total
96.6
RT: Retention time
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Medical Science and Discovery, 2018; 5(11):374-9
Antibacterial effects of essential oil of bay leaves
One of the important properties of essential oils and their
components is their hydrophobicity, which allows them to
partition the lipids of the bacterial cell membrane and
mitochondria, disturbing the cell structures and making
them more permeable (11). The antimicrobial activity
depends on not only the chemical composition of the
essential oil, but also on lipophilic properties and power of
functional groups or aqueous solubility. The mixture of
compounds with different biochemical properties can
improve the effectiveness of essential oils (1).
Commonly, essential oil of bay leaves is more effective
against Gram negative bacteria than Gram positive bacteria
(12). This resistance is due to bacterial cellular membranes’
nature group. Hence, their external structures make them to
highly hydrophobic surface 13).
There are some studies according to essential oils of L.
nobilis’ antimicrobial activities. One of them, (13)’s
studies. They report that the essential oil of L. nobilis L.
had demonstrated a strong activity on the majority of tested
22 strains; the highest sensitivity was in Enterobacter
species having an inhibition diameter of 22.4 mm, 16.8 mm
pure oil and 1/8 dilution. The most resistant strain was P.
aeruginosa. They also reported that 1.8 cineole had a part in
this activity having antimicrobial activity against E. coli, P.
aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Laurel’s essential
oil contains terpenes (linalool), lactones, oxides (1,8
cineole) and monoterpenes (camphene, alpha-pinene).
There is a good synergy among the substances for
antimicrobial activity.
In another study, (14) reported that ampicillin resistant E.
coli was sensitive to the pure oil and diluted at ½, on the
other hand, it was of a weak sensitiveness to the essential
oil diluted at ¼, 1/8, and 1/16. Proteus spp. was resistant to
ampicillin, ticarcillin, cotrimoxazol and chloramphenicol.
This strain showed a very big sensitiveness towards the
pure essential oil but it was resistant to the different used
dilutions. Serratia was resistant to ampicillin, ticarcillin,
ofloxacine and cotrimoxazol. This strain was rather
sensitive to both pure essential oil and different used
dilutions. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus,
Streptococcus D, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
Acinetobacter, which are resistant to at least one of
antibiotics such as kanamycin, penicillin, nalidixic acid,
lincomicin, cefazolin, imipenem, gentamicin, pefloxacin,
phosphomycin and piperacillin. But They are susceptible to
essential fatty acids diluted 1/2 and at 1/4 (6)’s study aimed
to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of
essential oils obtained from bay laurel, white wormwood
and rose-scented geranium against Salmonella typhimurium
and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on fresh produce and to
examine consumer acceptability of fresh produce treated
with these essential oils. Bay laurel’s essential oil consisted
of 30-50% 1.8-cineol, 10-20% linalool, 2.13% methyl
eugenol and 0.01% eugenol. They found that while
essential oil derived from rose-scented granium exhibited
the most effective antimicrobial activity, the highest
activity was occurred in bay laurel essential oil.
From Turkey, (3) has obtained essential oil from leaves of
Laurus nobilis using extraction technique. After extraction,
they found that the main components of oil were 51.8%
1,8-cineole, 11.2% α-terpinyl acetate, and 10.1% sabinene.
They also found that the L. nobilis essential oil was of the
high antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant potential.
(5) reported that natural extracts from myrtle and laurel can
be used by the food industry to extent the shelf life of
seafood because they exhibited promising antioxidant and
antimicrobial effects. (15)’s study results also showed that
1% thyme essential oil treatment was effective in inhibiting
spoilage bacteria growth in the iced storage fish. They also
obtained same results in treatment of laurel essential oil. In
addition, two plant’s essention oil had positive effects on
shelf life of iced stored fish samples.
Nano- particules of Laurus nobilis (Ln-ZnO NPs) and
antimicrobial effects
Nanoparticles have widely emerged as an anti-bacterial
agent in the last decade. It has particularly showed specific
targeting and minimum toxicity. They have proven useful
for inhibiting antibiotic-resistant bacteria particularly
Nanoparticles are in the size ranges from 10-100 nm. The
appearance and usefulness of nanoparticles brings many
advantages and opportunities. These nanoparticles can be
synthesized by physical, chemical and biological methods.
In the course of time several groups have achieved success
in the synthesis of silver, titanium oxide, copper oxide, iron
oxide, zinc oxide (ZnO) and gold etc. Because of the fact
that nano particles significatly inhibit growth of many type
microorganisms, many researchers have been interested to
develop many applications. There are very kinds of
nanoparticles. Among them, silver nanoparticules are more
common than others. Silver and their compounds have
highly antmicrobial effects on microorgaisms such as
Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (16). It has
long-lasting biocide and low volatility. In contrast, it has
low toxicity to human cells (17). Beside silver, zinc oxide
nanoparticules have more inhibitory effects on
micriorganisms than silver nanoparticules. Hence, its small
size and high surface-to-volume ratio of zinc oxide
nanoparticles allow for better interaction with bacteria
(18)., So zinc oxide nanoparticle is highly biocompatible
and its electron transport kinetics rate is fast and, it's it is
suitable to be used as a biological membrane or for other
biological applications (19). The nanoparticles have
selective toxicity to both Gram-positive and Gram-negative
bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria
monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus and
Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella
aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis,
Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Bacillus subtilis (figure
1). For reduction and stabilization of nanoparticle,
phytochemicals are used. These phytochemicals may
contribute to the anti-bacterial activity of nanoparticles by
starting a cascade of events like ROS generation, disrupting
the bio film formation, cell membrane integrity disruption,
enzyme inhibition, protein denaturation, or by accelerating
the process (Figure 2) (20, 19).
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Silver, zinc oxide, gold and palladium nanoparticles using
extracts obtained from unicellular organisms like bacteria
(21,25) and fungi, as well as extracts from plant parts, e.g.,
geranium leaves, Bay leaf (Laurus nobilis), neem leaves,
lemon grass, aloe Vera and several others (22). Green
synthesized nanoparticles surround themselves with a large
group of organic phytochemicals which helps in ligand-
based complexation with various receptors like proteins,
lipid, phospholipid, lipoteichoic acid at the microbial
surface.
This complexation of nanoparticle with bacteria prevents
biofilm formation and their growth (23).
Nanoparticles synthesized by green route tend to exhibit
better anti-bacterial activity than physical or chemical
method derived nanoparticles due to the coating of various
pharmacologically active biomolecules on their surface
which allows multiple ligands based conjugation of
nanoparticle with receptors on bacterial membranes.
Figure 1. ZnO- NPs interaction with Gram positive and negative cell (19).
Figure 2. Anti-bacterial mechanisms of ZnO- NPs (19)
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These biomolecules are mainly organic acids, flavones,
aldehyde, ketone, amides, polysaccharides, and quinones
and known to have significant therapeutic effect against a
wide range of human pathogen (24).
Nanoparticuls obtained from L. nobilis have antibacterial
activity against microorganisms. (22) conducted a study. In
this study, they obtained the green synthesis of zinc oxide
( nanoparticles using the aqueous leaf extract of Laurus
nobilis (Ln-ZnO NPs) by co-precipitation method. They
found that the antibacterial activity of Ln-ZnO NPs was
greater against Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus)
bacteria than Gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa)
bacteria. In addition to this, the light and confocal laser
scanning microscopic images gave evidence that Ln-ZnO
NPs effectively inhibited the biofilm growth of S. aureus
and P. aeruginosa at 75mg mL1.
Conclusion
Mainly essential oil of Laurus nobilis has strong
antibacterial activity against Gram negative and Gram
positive foodorne pathogens, spoilage bacteria as well as
antifungal effects. Use of nanoparticles as an antibacterial
agent in current studies with metal nanoparticles like silver,
gold, copper, iron and metal oxide nanoparticles like zinc
oxide etc, it has not been common. Laurus nobilis origin
zinc oxide nanoparticules (Ln-ZnO NPs) have antibacterial
activity especially against Gram positive bacteria. Drug
made from plants and nanoparticles are alternative
approaches to spoilage due to potoogens and
microorganisms.
Acknowledgement: None.
Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no potential
conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.
Author’s Contributions: BS, CY, AG; Review literature,
planning and design of research AG; preparing article and
revisions.
Ethical issues: All Authors declare, Originality and ethical
approval of research. Responsibilities of research,
responsibilities against local ethics commission are under
the Authors responsibilities.
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