Antibacterial activity of aromatic plants essential oils from Serbia against the Listeria monocytogenes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of selected essential oils for the control of the growth and survival of pathogenic bacteria Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19112 and Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19115, which are of significant importance in food hygiene. Essential oils extracted from Salvia officinalis L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Majorana hortensis Moench., Thymus vulgaris L., Carum carvi L., Pimpinella anisum L. and Coriandrum sativum L. were evaluated. Antibacterial activity was done by the disk diffusion method in the presence of pure essential oils and four suspensions in alcohol. The best results obtained with Thymus vulgaris and Majorana hortensis essential oils, which were acting microbicidaly on both observed strains of Listeria monocytogenes, even in the small concentration. Because some of the essential oils were highly inhibitory even in small quantities to selected pathogenic bacteria, they may provide alternatives to conventional antimicrobial additives in foods.

Svrha ovog istraživanja bila je ispitivanje efikasnosti izabranih etarskih ulja za kontrolu rasta i preživljavanja patogenih bakterija Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19112 i Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19115, koje su izuzetno značajne za higijenu hrane. Ispitivana su etarska ulja ekstrakovana iz žalfije (Salvia officinalis L.), ruzmarina (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), majorana (Majorana hortensis Moench.), timijana (Thymus vulgaris L.), kima (Carum carvi L.), anisa (Pimpinella anisum L.) i korijandera (Coriandrum sativum L.). Antibakterijska aktivnost ispitivana je difuzionim metodom pomoću filter diskova u prisustvu čistih etarskih ulja i četiri suspenzije u alkoholu. Najbolji rezultati dobijeni su sa etarskim uljima timijana i origana, koja su delovala mikrobicidno na oba ispitivana soja Listeria monocytogenes, čak i u vrlo malim koncentracijama. S obzirom da su neka etarska ulja visoko inhibitorna za izabrane patogene bakterije čak i u malim količinama, mogu da obezbede zamenu za konvencionalne antimikrobne aditive u hrani.