Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Antimicrobial
An antimicrobial is a substance that that kills or slows the growth of microbes like bacteria (antibacterial activity), fungi (antifungal activity), viruses (antiviral activity), or parasites (antiparasitic activity).
Antibiotics are one class of antibacterial and antifungal antimicrobials that can potentially be used as medicinal drugs to treat infections because of their low toxicity for humans or animals.
The term originally described only those formulations derived from living organisms but is now applied also to synthetic antimicrobials, such as the sulfonamides.
Essential oils
Many essential oils have topical (external) antimicrobial activity, including:
- Tea tree oil
- Leleshwa oil
- Sandalwood oil
- Clove oil
- Lavender oil
See also
10-26-2009 08:16:03
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details