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Essential oils as antibacterial agents against food-borne pathogens: Are they really as useful as they are claimed to be?

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Abstract

Most studies evaluating the use of essential oils (EO) as antibacterial agents focus mainly on minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) rather than minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC). In this work, we compared MICs and MBCs of EO from condiment plants commonly used in Mediterranean Europe, namely Origanum vulgare, Salvia lavandulaefolia, Salvia officinalis, Salvia sclarea and Rosmarinus officinalis, aiming to evaluate their application as disinfecting agents in minimally processed produce. Outbreaks-related pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Yarrowia lipolytica were used. Results showed that all EO were able to reduce bacterial growth in all bacterial strains tested, particularly O. vulgare. However, fewer EO exhibited bactericidal activities, and were only effective against one or two bacterial strains, hence eliminating the possibility to use them as broad range disinfectants. Furthermore, the necessary concentrations were too high for food application. Hence, our work suggests the need to evaluate MBC rather than MIC and questions EO usefulness in controlling undesired microorganisms. Overall, and despite the large volume of data published on EO, results obtained were not very encouraging for a realistic application on produce and question the viability of EOs as disinfecting agents in food.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Alexandra Carreira and Cristina Pintado for the yeast and bacteria strains used and Polarome International, USA for kindly providing the EO. This work was supported by national funds from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the research unit UID/AGR/04129/2013 (LEAF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbiology Laboratory, DRAT, LEAF (Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food), ISA (Instituto Superior de Agronomia), Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    M. I. S. Santos, S. R. Martins, C. S. C. Veríssimo, M. J. C. Nunes & M. A. S. S. Ferreira

  2. Eco-Novel Food and Feed, DCEB, LEAF, ISA, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    I. Sousa

  3. Disease & Stress Biology, DRAT, LEAF, ISA, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    M. I. S. Santos, A. I. G. Lima & R. M. S. B. Ferreira

  4. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande, 376, 1749-024, Lisbon, Portugal

    M. I. S. Santos & L. Pedroso

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  1. M. I. S. Santos
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  2. S. R. Martins
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  3. C. S. C. Veríssimo
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  4. M. J. C. Nunes
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  5. A. I. G. Lima
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  6. R. M. S. B. Ferreira
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  7. L. Pedroso
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  8. I. Sousa
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  9. M. A. S. S. Ferreira
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Correspondence to M. I. S. Santos.

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Santos, M.I.S., Martins, S.R., Veríssimo, C.S.C. et al. Essential oils as antibacterial agents against food-borne pathogens: Are they really as useful as they are claimed to be?. J Food Sci Technol 54, 4344–4352 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2905-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2905-0

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