Antimicrobial activity of essential oils from Mediterranean aromatic plants against several foodborne and spoilage bacteria

The antimicrobial activity of essential oils extracted from a variety of aromatic plants, often used in the Portuguese gastronomy was studied in vitro by the agar diffusion method. The essential oils of thyme, oregano, rosemary, verbena, basil, peppermint, pennyroyal and mint were tested against Gra...

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Veröffentlicht in:Food science and technology international = Ciencia y tecnologia de los alimentos internacional. - 1998. - 19(2013), 6 vom: 15. Dez., Seite 503-10
1. Verfasser: Silva, Nuno (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Alves, Sofia, Gonçalves, Alexandre, Amaral, Joana S, Poeta, Patrícia
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2013
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:Food science and technology international = Ciencia y tecnologia de los alimentos internacional
Schlagworte:Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Antimicrobial activity aromatic plants essential oils food spoilage bacteria foodborne bacteria Anti-Infective Agents Cyclohexanones mehr... Oils, Volatile essential oil, Thymus pulegioides pennyroyal oil AK85U7Y3MV
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The antimicrobial activity of essential oils extracted from a variety of aromatic plants, often used in the Portuguese gastronomy was studied in vitro by the agar diffusion method. The essential oils of thyme, oregano, rosemary, verbena, basil, peppermint, pennyroyal and mint were tested against Gram-positive (Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus epidermidis) and Gram-negative strains (Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). For most essential oils examined, S. aureus, was the most susceptible bacteria, while P. aeruginosa showed, in general, least susceptibility. Among the eight essential oils evaluated, thyme, oregano and pennyroyal oils showed the greatest antimicrobial activity, followed by rosemary, peppermint and verbena, while basil and mint showed the weakest antimicrobial activity. Most of the essential oils considered in this study exhibited a significant inhibitory effect. Thyme oil showed a promising inhibitory activity even at low concentration, thus revealing its potential as a natural preservative in food products against several causal agents of foodborne diseases and food spoilage. In general, the results demonstrate that, besides flavoring the food, the use of aromatic herbs in gastronomy can also contribute to a bacteriostatic effect against pathogens
Beschreibung:Date Completed 06.02.2014
Date Revised 19.11.2015
published: Print-Electronic
Citation Status MEDLINE
ISSN:1532-1738
DOI:10.1177/1082013212442198