Leopold Jirovetz*, Gerhard Buchbauer, Erich Schmidt, Albena S. Stoyanova, Zapriana Denkova, Radosveta Nikolova and Margit Geissler

Abstract: Commercially available geraniol and nerol, as well as some derivatives, were analyzed for their purity using GC and GC/MS. The olfactoric quality of the samples was evaluated by professional perfumers. Antimicrobial testings using an agar dilution and an agar diffusion method were done to obtain information about their activities against some Gram-(+) and Gram-(-) bacteria, as well as the yeast Candida albicans. The effects were compared with those of the phenolic compound eugenol and some synthetic antibiotics. Most of the investigated compounds were found to have a characteristic, pleasant odor and a high activity against all strains of microorganisms used.

For their especially pleasant sweet-floral impressions, geraniol, nerol and many of their derivatives are used in perfumery and cosmetic products, e.g. perfumes, lotions, soaps, deodorants (1–3) and as flavors in food products, such as non-alcoholic beverages, ice creams, candies, baked goods, puddings, chewing gums and syrups (1,4,5). Although, the antimicrobial activity of many mono- and sesquiterpenes using various different testing methods has been reported in a large number of scientific papers over the last few years, this study is a continuation of our systematic investigation of such effects of aroma samples by means of an optimized agar dilution and agar diffusion method. The aim of this study is to obtain antimicrobial data of geranol/nerol and their derivatives, to increase the input to a corresponding databank (6–10).