The foliage and stems of plant species from the family Rosacea, genus Prunus, yield natural pesticides when macerated. Hydrodistillation of macerated plant biomass yields a concentrated solution of organic volatile compounds that act synergistically as a natural pesticide, and as provided herein, also act synergistically as antimicrobial compounds. Volatile compounds liberated from Prunus biomass include 2-propanol, hexanal, trans-2-hexenal, 1 - hexanol, cis-3-hexenol, mandelonitrile, benzoic acid, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, hydrocyanic acid and others. These compounds may be removed from the distillate and reformulated to form a standard concentrated solution, with benzaldehyde, mandelonitrile and hydrogen cyanide being the major components. Provided herein are methods of using these pesticides as a broad- spectrum bactericide. Components of the extract may act alone or synergistically to control both gram positive and gram negative genera of bacteria.
