Abstract

The use of plants as an alternative to medicinal treatments is an old practice. The increased resistance of microorganisms to conventional antimicrobials has made studies with medicinal plants increasingly relevant, and ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological knowledge is considered essential for the development of new drugs. The essential oil of Origanum vulgare and its isolated compound Carvacrol have antimicrobial effects demonstrated in the literature as antibacterial and antifungal activity. Therefore, the present study evaluated the antibacterial and antifungal activity of O. vulgare and Carvacrol using the broth microdilution method (CLSI, 2008), determining MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) and MFC and MBC (Minimum Fungicidal Concentration and Concentration Minimum Bactericide). Used as standard comparative the antimicrobials Fluconazoleand Chlorhexidine.