Antibacterial Activity of Clove Oil Extracted from Eugenia Caryophyllaea and its Effect on the Economic Traits of Mulberry Silkworm Bombyxmori, L

Abstract

Man took advantage of medicinal and aromaticplants since ancient times to control manydiseases hence plants are warehouses ofphytochemicals and secondary metabolites thathave antibacterial, antifungal and antiviralproperties. Aromatic plants synthesize andpreserve secondary metabolites which arereferred as natural biochemical factories orchemical gold mines. The pharmacologicalactivity of these aromatic plants are classifiedinto four acceptable groups namely alkaloids,glycosides, essential oils and other substances ondiagnostic basis (Baby P. Sakaria. 2007). Largenumber of antimicrobial agents tapped fromhigher plants are used to combat wild variety ofmicrobial infections. Globally, a good source ofraw materials for these antimicrobial agents arethe flora and fauna which continue to play adominant role for combating various seriousdiseases with their phytochemical activesubstances that produce diversifiedphysiological action on beneficial organismsincluding silkworm (Cragg G.M. et al., 1999).Essential oils are defined as volatile oilsextracted from aromatic plants having wild andvaried bioactivity against insects and they arecommonly referred to as volatile plantsecondary metabolites. Hence, knowledge ofthese secondary metabolites is essentia