Antibacterial Resistance

I had a young woman ask for information on the antibacterial resistance of organic substances, specifically against e-coli and staphylococcus. When I asked from which discipline she was approaching the question, she said she was a high school student working on a science project comparing the antibacterial effect of garlic oil, tea tree oil, and olive oil.

I didn’t feel I did a particularly good job drawing out exactly what she was looking for. When we searched PubMed looking for antibacterial resistance of organic substances, the results were drug-related (not surprising given the source). I did find an article that looked at the direct her to the reference section on traditional medicines, which I know has resources that cover garlic, tea tree, and olive oils.

I went back over the search after, but suspect the reason I wasn’t able to find anything particularly useful was that the term “organic substances” is too general. Had I pressed her to give me a specific organic substance that she was looking for, we might have made better progress.

Any suggestions?