The antimicrobial activity of essential oils and their components has been recognized for a very long time. Essential oils
(EOs) are made from a very complex mixture of volatile molecules that are produced by the secondary metabolism of
aromatic and medicinal plants and can be obtained by distillation of different parts of plants. The large number of studies
on the antimicrobial activity of EOs has allowed the scientific recognition of these compounds on the control of a wide
range of microbial pathogens. The progresses made on the investigation of the mode of action of EOs against bacterial cell
targets give us new perspectives to combat persistent and antimicrobial resistant bacterial pathogens. The recent
investigation on the activity of EOs disruption of quorum sensing process is an excellent example. On the other hand
proteomic analysis show that bacterial pathogens respond to EO sublethal doses using known mechanisms of adaptation to
several environmental stress conditions.