Reading Time: 2 minutes
One of the many reasons we decided to produce oregano essential oil from Greek
oregano is the scientific research that is carried out during the last years providing evidence on the benefits of plant based carvacrol, the main beneficial component of oregano essential oil. Contrary to the confusing and often misleading information popping out every other day about new, promising super foods and alternative medicines, we found numerous reliable scientific studies that confirm what we already knew from our grandparents and personal experience. Greek oregano (Origanum Vulgare ssp hirtum) is the species with the highest concentration in carvacrol. It can reach a concentration up to 95% (our oregano essential oil has reached 79,85 % carvacrol so far).
In one of our regular checks (it has almost become one of our favorite pastimes) for new study results about carvacrol and oregano essential oil, we found a very interesting article, recently published, that examines the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of carvacrol and thymol against the bacterium Streptococcus mutans. It is one of the most important causes of dental caries and is also associated to other systemic diseases such as ulcerative colitis, endocarditis and septicemia.
According to the results of this study, carvacrol and thymol show significant antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against Streptococcus mutans. Since they are derived from edible plants classified as GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe by the US Food and Drug Administration), the essential oils of Greek oregano and thymus can be used in mouthwashes or toothpastes for controlling oral bacteria and for maintaining good oral hygiene.
And if you are wondering if you can make your own toothpaste, here is a very easy way!
CITATION: Khan ST, Khan M, Ahmad J, et al. Thymol and carvacrol induce autolysis, stress, growth inhibition and reduce the biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans. AMB Express. 2017;7:49. doi:10.1186/s13568-017-0344-y.
For the brave ones that have read so far, we quote from the article: “the unwarranted and overuse of the antibiotics in dentistry has resulted in the drug resistance among commensal as well as pathogenic bacteria of the oral cavity including S. mutans…Therefore, alternatives to conventional antimicrobial agents are highly and urgently required. Plant based materials, especially from edible plants, are an effective alternative antimicrobials especially those classified as GRAS (generally recognized as safe) (Burdock and Carabin 2004). Two such commonly used edible plants in traditional medicine since ancient times are Origanum and Thymus….Since, thymol and carvacrol exhibit good antimicrobial activity these essential oils were purified from O. vulgare L. and their antimicrobial activity against S. mutans was determined. …. To our knowledge, this is the first such detailed report on the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of thymol and carvacrol against S. mutans….Another important trait of pathogenicity is biofilm formation. Biofilms exhibit greater resistance to antimicrobial agents and are difficult to treat …Therefore, the antibiofilm activities of carvacrol (M-1) and thymol (M-2) against S. mutans was determined… Previously the antibiofilm activity of thymol and carvacrol against Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been reported (Ceylan and Ugur 2015).”