Table 1.

The inhibition mechanism of different essential oils (EOs) against various bacteria.

EOs	Bacteria	Antibacterial Mechanism
Clove EOs [26]	Listeria monocytogenes	(1)Biomacromolecules: change DNA structure [26]; (2)Cell wall/membrane integrity: destroy the integrity of the cell membrane, leading to the efflux of biomacromolecules [26].
Clove EOs [26] Eugenia stipitata EOs [27] Thyme EOs [28] Chuzhou chrysanthemum EOs [29] Dodartia orientalis L. EOs [30] Peppermint EOs [31]	Staphylococcus aureus	(1)Biomacromolecules: interact with DNA and affects the accessory gene regulator (Agr) system, resulting in decreased expression of virulence genes [26]; (2)Cell wall/membrane integrity: Disruption of cell membrane structure leading to the extravasation of ions (K+), nucleic acids, and proteins [27,29,30]; involves membrane potential depolarization and fluidity reduction possibly related to changes in fatty acid composition [28]; causes the destruction of structures and the function of the cell wall [30]; (3)Metabolic pathway: inhibits the respiratory metabolism by inhibiting the tricarboxylic acid cycle pathway [26]; affects Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway and decreases key enzyme activity (PFK, HK and PK) [29]; improves the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) level [31].
Lindera glauca fruit EOs [32]	Shigella flexneri	(1)Cell wall/membrane integrity: disruption of cell membrane structure leading to the extravasation of ions (K+), nucleic acids, and proteins [32]; (2)Metabolic pathway: induces H2O2 accumulation and lipid peroxidation (ROS and MDA); inhibits respiratory metabolism and gives rise to a disturbance of redox homeostasis [32].
Chuzhou chrysanthemum EOs [29] Dodartia orientalis L. EOs [30] Peppermint EOs [31] Alpinia galanga rhizomes EOs [33] Thyme EOs [34,35] Litsea cubeba EOs [36]	Escherichia coli	(1)Biomacromolecules: disrupt DNA replication [36]; (2)Cell wall/membrane integrity: disruption of cell membrane structure leading to the extravasation of ions (K+), nucleic acids and proteins [28,30,33,35,36]; involving membrane potential depolarization and fluidity reduction possibly related to the changes of fatty acid composition [28]; causes the destruction of structure and function of cell wall [30]; (3)Metabolic pathway: affects hexose monophophate (HMP) pathway and decreases key enzyme activity (G6PHD) [29]; improves reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels [31]; inhibits respiratory metabolism [36]; (4)Virulence gene expression: inhibits enzymatic activity (P-type ATPases) and down-regulates the expression of four virulence genes (stx1, stx2, ehxA, eae) [33,36].
Dodartia orientalis L. EOs [30] Origanum vulgare EOs [34]	Salmonella Enteritidis	(1)Cell wall/membrane integrity: disruption of cell membrane structure leading to the extravasation of ions (K+), nucleic acids, and proteins; causes the destruction of structure and function of cell wall [30]; (2)Biomacromolecules/metabolic pathway: DNA inhibition; key protein expression changes; bacterial oxidative stress; cellular metabolic imbalance [34].
Oregano EOs [37] Litsea cubeba EOs [38]	Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus	(1)Biomacromolecules: disrupts DNA replication by reacting with DNA in the form of chimera [38]; (2)Cell wall/membrane integrity: disruption of cell membrane structure leading to the extravasation of ions (K+), nucleic acids, and proteins [37,38]; (3)Metabolic level: inhibits respiratory metabolism by inhibiting the tricarboxylic acid cycle pathway and key enzymes [37]; affects HMP pathway and decreases key enzyme activity (G6PHD) [38]; (4)Gene expression: inhibition of relative expression of pvl gene [37,38].
Artemisia asiatica EOs [39]	Haemophilus influenzae	(1)Cell wall/membrane integrity: leads to cell wall damage, cell deformation, and cell shrinkage [39];
Juniperus rigida EOs [40]	Klebsiella pneumoniae	(1)Cell wall/membrane integrity: causes irreversible damage to the cell wall and membrane, leading to the leakage of proteins and DNA/RNA. [40];
Clove EOs [41]	Burkholderia gladioli	(1)Cell wall/membrane integrity: damages cell membranes, resulting in leakage of bacterial cytoplasm [41]; (2)Toxin expression: reduces the expression of bongkrekic acid [41];