Members of the Cistus genus have been traditionally used in folk medicine since ancient times as a remedy for various infections and diseases. In this paper essential oils of four wild growing Cistus species in Croatia were examined for their chemical composition and antimicrobial activity against both ATCC and multiple-resistant clinical strains of opportunistic pathogens associated with skin, nail, gastrointestinal, bloodstream and respiratory infections. The results showed that C. villosus and C. salviifolius essential oils have nonterpene compounds as dominant ones, particularly nonterpene acids and derivatives, while C. creticus and C. monspeliensis essential oils have labdane-type diterpene compounds as dominant ones. Tested Cistus oils have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activities which are dose dependent. C. salviifolius and C. creticus oils were found to be the most potent ones, particularly against leading skin pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida albicans. The data presented here presented evidence for biological and aromatical potential of the Cistus essential oils for their further use in traditional medicine.
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