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Antimicrobial resistance is a major global health problem that requires exploration for new natural drug alternatives. This study examines the extraction process, chemical analysis, and assessment of the antimicrobial properties of the volatile oils from Cymbopogon citratus and Ageratum conyzoides. Whole volatile oils were extracted from the two plants by hydrodistillation. The chemical constituents of both are compared by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Five bacterial and two fungal strains were chosen for the antimicrobial studies. The cup-plate agar diffusion method was used to test microbial susceptibility to the volatile oils. The oil yield of the two plants was 1.4% for C. citratus and 0.0079% for A. conyzoides. GC-MS analysis indicated that citral is the main ingredient of C. citratus, while A. conyzoides was high in precocene. C. citratus oil exhibited potent broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against in vitro-tested pathogenic bacteria and fungi in a dose-dependent concentration. With a potent antifungal activity. On the other hand, the essential oil of A. conyzoides showed weak performance and hence inhibited only P. aeruginosa and C. albicans at the highest concentration tested (25% w/v) and exhibited a weak effect against the other clinical isolates used in the study. C. citratus volatile oil demonstrated a very good antimicrobial activity and could serve as a good antimicrobial agent against bacterial and fungal infection
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