Chemical Composition, Antibacterial and Combinatorial Effects of the Essential Oils from Cymbopogon spp. and Mentha arvensis with Conventional Antibiotics

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

The work is interesting but needs further studies to contribute to the generation of new antimicrobial products, such as what is the toxicity and cytotoxicity of oils?

The file that I had access to read is full of missing spaces between words and other inaccuracies pointed out in the text. Also, after the end of a sentence, in numerous places, there is no correct space to start the next sentence.

Between some references there are also non-standard spaces used in the manuscript.

Author Response

1. The work is interesting but needs further studies to contribute to the generation of new antimicrobial products, such as what is the toxicity and cytotoxicity of oils?

 

Our answer: The reviewer’s comment are appreciable, I will consider this in future studies.

 

Some references for your referral are listed below:

 

- Omar Belmehdi, Abdelhakim Bouyahya , József Jekő, Zoltán Cziáky, Gokhan Zengin, Gyula Sotkó , Aicha El baaboua , Nadia Skali Senhaji , Jamal Abrini. 2021. Synergistic interaction between propolis extract, essential oils, and antibiotics against Staphylococcus epidermidis and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. International Journal of Secondary Metabolite, 8, 3, 195-213. - Samia Ayaria, Shiv Shankara , Peter Follettd, Farah Hossaina , Monique Lacroix. 2020. Potential synergistic antimicrobial efficiency of binary combinations of essential oils against Bacillus cereus and Paenibacillusamylolyticus. Microbial Pathogenesis, 141-1004008. 

 

2. The file that I had access to read is full of missing spaces between words and other inaccuracies pointed out in the text. Also, after the end of a sentence, in numerous places, there is no correct space to start the next sentence.

​

Our answer: The missing spaces are improved as per the reviewer’s comments.

 

3. Between some references there are also non-standard spaces used in the manuscript.

 

Our answer: It may be due to the change in the windows but this has been done as per the reviewer’s comments.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments to authors

·        The similarity report is 48% (iThenticate) which is markedly high. It should be no more than 30%. Especially, the introduction and the material and methods sections contain high percentages of similarity to other published related papers.

·        The manuscript needs English editing and has many typos (please see the attached revised MS).

·        The abstract is too general and vague. It requires much improvement. Further highlights on the most active EO/ combinations (in terms of MIC) are needed. What was the best EO and what was the best combination with significant antibacterial activity?

·        In Table 1. The percentage composition of essential oils obtained from fresh leaves of two plants was only mentioned. The authors did not include the composition of the EO of Cymbopogon citratus. This should be added.

Further comments were added to the attached revised MS.

 

 

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

1. The similarity report is 48% (iThenticate) which is markedly high. It should be no more than 30%. Especially, the introduction and the material and methods sections contain high percentages of similarity to other published related papers.

 

Our answer : Plagrism report of 48% has been reduced to below 30% as per the reviewer’s comment.

2.   The manuscript needs English editing and has many typos (please see the attached revised MS).

      Our answer: The manuscript is improved as per the reviewer’s comments.

3.    The abstract is too general and vague. It requires much improvement. Further highlights on the most active EO/ combinations (in terms of MIC) are needed. What was the best EO and what was the best combination with significant antibacterial activity?

 Our answer: The abstract of the manuscript is improved as per the reviewer’s comments and also the     best combination is highlighted in the abstract.

 

·4.        In Table 1. The percentage composition of essential oils obtained from fresh leaves of two plants was only mentioned. The authors did not include the composition of the EO of Cymbopogon citratus. This should be added.

Our answer : The phytochemical constraints with their area percent of Cymbopogon citratus were presented in our previous study (Sharma et al., 2021).

References: Neha Sharma, Sanjay Guleria, Aasiya Majeed and KH Salaria. 2021. Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus (Lemon grass). The Pharma Innovation Journal, 10(11) : 968-971.

5. Further comments were added to the attached revised MS.

 

Our answer : Further comments in the file corrected as recommended by the reviewer.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

 

  The manuscript with the title "Chemical composition, antibacterial and combinatorial effects of different essential oils with conventional antibiotics" is interesting, but it seems that some research is needed to complete this study. I would have some observations:

- to be corrected according to the magazine's requirements

- to correct some words: e.g.: tothelamiaceae, antibioticseliciting, 4fold, CCEOwerepresented, ofthetotalpeak, Regardingthevolatile, etc.

- In the Abstract you mentioned that the oils were obtained by hydrodistillation, but they were procured from the Council of scientific & industrial research- Indian in-stitute of integrative medicine, canal road, Jammu. Please review these statements.

- Complete the "Introduction" with new data about the essential oils studied, especially regarding the antimicrobial action.

- Justify the choice of the 3 oils and the bacteria used and what would be their use (diseases?).

- GC-MS analysis was performed only for 2 oils (C. khasianus and M.arvensis). Please complete this part and improve the "Discussions" referring to the data from the specialized literature.

 - Complete in table 2 what the values given in the table represent

Author Response

REVIEWER 3

1. The manuscript with the title "Chemical composition, antibacterial and combinatorial effects of different essential oils with conventional antibiotics" is interesting, but it seems that some research is needed to complete this study. I would have some observations:- to be corrected according to the magazine's requirements- to correct some words: e.g.: to the lamiaceae, antibiotics eliciting, 4fold, CCEO were presented, of the total peak, Regarding the volatile, etc.

Our answer :  It is improved as per the reviewer’s comments

2. In the Abstract you mentioned that the oils were obtained by hydrodistillation, but they were procured from the Council of scientific & industrial research- Indian in-stitute of integrative medicine, canal road, Jammu. Please review these statements.

Our answer : It was written by mistake. The oils were procured from CSIR-IIIM-J. It has been corrected.

2. Complete the "Introduction" with new data about the essential oils studied, especially regarding the antimicrobial action. Justify the choice of the 3 oils and the bacteria used and what would be their use (diseases?).

Our answer: Modification with new data about essential oils included in introduction. These 3 oils has been choosen because till know no work has been done on these oils in my research lab regarding synergistic behaviour and are easily available in our native palace.

- GC-MS analysis was performed only for 2 oils (C. khasianus and M.arvensis). Please complete this part and improve the "Discussions" referring to the data from the specialized literature.

Our answer :  The gcms analysis of 3rd oil were presented in our previous study (Sharma et al., 2021).

References: Neha Sharma, Sanjay Guleria, Aasiya Majeed and KH Salaria. 2021. Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus (Lemon grass). The Pharma Innovation Journal, 10(11) : 968-971.

 - Complete in Table 2 what the values given in the table represent

Our answer : Table 2 is improved as per reviewer;s comment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Chemical composition, antibacterial and combinatorial effects of 3 essential oils with conventional antibiotics were evaluated in this paper, showed evident effect on synergistic interactions of essential oils with synthetic antibiotics. It is a topic of interest to the researchers in the related areas, but the paper needs some improvement before acceptance for publication. My detailed comments are as follow:

1.     Line number should be added for review.

2.     The format of some references is incorrect. Please read the guide of the journal carefully.

3.     “Essential oils” should be listed as one of the keywords.

4.     Page1, requirement forahigh?

5.     Conclusion: oilsshowed? Similar problems should be rechecked and corrected.

6.     Tables: Font format and size are not uniform.

Author Response

1. Line number should be added for review.

 

Our answer : It is listed as per reviewer comment.

 

 

2. The format of some references is incorrect. Please read the guide of the journal carefully.

 

Our answer : It is improved as per guidelines of the journal.

 

3. “Essential oils” should be listed as one of the keywords.

 

Our answer : It is listed as per reviewer comment.

 

4. Page1, requirement forahigh? Conclusion: oils showed? Similar problems should be rechecked and corrected.

 

 

Our answer ; This point is not clear to us.

6.     Tables: Font format and size are not uniform.

Our answer : Font size and format is improved as per journal guidelines.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments to authors

The authors addressed most of the comments but there are some typos left, which are summarized as follows:

·       Many wrong hyphens are inserted in the middle of many words, please revise the attached pdf.

·       Adding a space in the abbreviated binomial name.

·       A space should be added at the beginning of each sentence.

·       The style of writing numbers and their units should be unified throughout the whole document. E.g., 10 mg/ml or 10mg/ml (with/without space).

·       The reference section requires careful revision as follows:

·       Some references are split over several lines e.g., 19, 27, and 36.

·       Many missing spaces are found, especially between year, volume, and pages.

·       Line 317; South African Journal of Botany is not abbreviated.

·       For other typos, please see the attached pdf.

 

·       The similarity report should be checked after adjusting all spaces, hyphens, and typos.

 

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

The authors addressed most of the comments but there are some typos left, which are summarized as follows:

1.  Many wrong hyphens are inserted in the middle of many words, please revise the attached pdf.

 

Our answer : It is done as per reviewer comment.

 

2.  Adding a space in the abbreviated binomial name.

 

                   Our answer : The spaces are added as per the reviewer’s comments.

 

3. A space should be added at the beginning of each sentence.

 

- The style of writing numbers and their units should be unified throughout the whole document. E.g., 10 mg/ml or 10mg/ml (with/without space).

 

Our answer : It is done as per reviewer comment.

 

 

4.  The reference section requires careful revision as follows :

·       Some references are split over several lines e.g., 19, 27, and 36.

·       Many missing spaces are found, especially between year, volume, and pages.

·       Line 317; South African Journal of Botany is not abbreviated.

·       For other typos, please see the attached pdf.

.      The similarity report should be checked after adjusting all spaces, hyphens, and typos.

Our answer : It is done as per reviewer comment.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

I read it and it seems that the authors have made the mentioned corrections/improvements/completions, which could be published.

Author Response

The authors addressed most of the comments but there are some typos left, which are summarized as follows:

1.  Many wrong hyphens are inserted in the middle of many words, please revise the attached pdf.

 

Our answer : It is done as per reviewer comment.

 

2.  Adding a space in the abbreviated binomial name.

 

                   Our answer : The spaces are added as per the reviewer’s comments.

 

3. A space should be added at the beginning of each sentence.

 

- The style of writing numbers and their units should be unified throughout the whole document. E.g., 10 mg/ml or 10mg/ml (with/without space).

 

Our answer : It is done as per reviewer comment.

 

 

4.  The reference section requires careful revision as follows :

·       Some references are split over several lines e.g., 19, 27, and 36.

·       Many missing spaces are found, especially between year, volume, and pages.

·       Line 317; South African Journal of Botany is not abbreviated.

·       For other typos, please see the attached pdf.

.      The similarity report should be checked after adjusting all spaces, hyphens, and typos.

Our answer : It is done as per reviewer comment.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx