Antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Eucalyptus globulus against fish pathogenic bacteria.

The antibacterial activities of the essential oil of Eucalyptus globulus (EOEG) was determined against 7 fish pathogenic bacteria (Edwardsiella tarda, Streptococcus iniae, S. parauberis, Lactococcus garviae, Vibrio harveyi, V. ichthyoenteri and Photobacterium damselae) obtained from farmed olive flounder. The inhibitory activity was evaluated by three methods: Disc diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). According to the disc diffusion test, as the concentration of EOEG (5-40 µg) rises, the inhibitory zone increases in size. Compared with amoxicillin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol, EOEG showed similar antibacterial activity. The MIC of EOEG ranged from 7.8 to 125 mg/mL and MBC values ranged from 62 to 250 mg/mL. These results show that EOEG has antimicrobial activity against all seven bacteria, but there was no marked difference between each genus. From these results, it is suggested that EOEG can be used as an antimicrobial agent against fish bacterial diseases in the fish industry.