Detection of Anti-Biofilm Activity of Peppermint Essential Oil in S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa

Comoé Koffi Donatien BENIE^{1, 2,} , Bourahima BAMBA³, Amin Paulin YAPI¹, Adjaratou TRAORE⁴, Moussa NONKA⁵, Koua ATOBLA¹, Aya Carole BONNY¹, Nohya Delvina OKONDZA⁶, Dissinviel Stéphane KPODA⁷, Nathalie GUESSENND² and Adjéhi DADIE^{2, 5}

¹Department of Biosciences, Laboratory of Biotechnology, Agriculture and valorization of Biological Resources, University of Félix Houphouët Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

²Department of Bacteriology and Virology, Institut Pasteur of Côte d'Ivoire (IPCI), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

³National Institute Of Public Hygiene, Department of Hygiene, Water and Food Laboratory, Microbiology Unit, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

⁴Department of Medical Sciences, University of Alassane Ouattara, University Hospital Center (UHC) of Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire;

⁵Department of Food Science and Technology, Laboratory of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology (LMBM), University of Nangui-Abrogoua, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

⁶University Denis Sassou Nguesso, Laboratory of Human Nutrition and Quality Control

⁷University Center of Ziniare/Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Cite this paper:
Comoé Koffi Donatien BENIE, Bourahima BAMBA, Amin Paulin YAPI, Adjaratou TRAORE, Moussa NONKA, Koua ATOBLA, Aya Carole BONNY, Nohya Delvina OKONDZA, Dissinviel Stéphane KPODA, Nathalie GUESSENND and Adjéhi DADIE. Detection of Anti-Biofilm Activity of Peppermint Essential Oil in S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa. American Journal of Microbiological Research. 2026; 14(1):12-19. doi: 10.12691/ajmr-14-1-3

Abstract

Microbial biofilms pose a public health problem and are difficult to eliminate with conventional antimicrobial treatments. This study aimed to detect the anti-biofilm activity of natural peppermint essential oil against biofilm-forming bacterial strains. Sixty (60) strains, including P. aeruginosa (20), S. aureus (20), and E. coli (20), from clinical and food sources, were included in this study. The antibacterial activity of peppermint essential oil was determined by the Muller Hinton agar diffusion method. Phenotypic biofilm detection and the anti-biofilm activity of peppermint essential oil were performed using the tube method. Molecular detection of biofilm-forming genes (PelA, PslA, and ppyR) was carried out using PCR. Peppermint essential oil exhibited bactericidal activity against foodborne and clinical strains of E. coli and S. aureus. The median number of biofilms formed ranged from 0.8 ± 0.4 to 1.4 ± 0.4 (clinical strains) and from 0.7 ± 0.4 to 1.1 ± 0.2 (foodborne strains). The biofilm-forming genes PelA, PslA, and ppyR were detected in P. aeruginosa with prevalences ranging from 40% to 80% (clinical strains) and from 40% to 60% (foodborne strains). The prevalence of the PelA and PslA genes in S. aureus and E. coli ranged from 20% to 40% (clinical strains) and from 10% to 40% (foodborne strains). A significant reduction of between 101.7% and 274.8% (P<0.01) was observed in clinical and food strains at Raw peppermint (RP) doses ranging from 0.2% to 2%. At 0.1% of Raw peppermint (RP), a negligible increase of between 21.2% and 23.3% was observed in clinical strains of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Controlling and eliminating bacterial biofilms using local natural essential oil represents a significant therapeutic advance.

Keywords:
Biofilm anti-biofilm activity Peppermint P. aeruginosa S. aureus and E. coli

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