Elsevier

LWT

Volume 108, July 2019, Pages 247-252
LWT

Antibiofilm activity of the essential oil of Campomanesia aurea O. Berg against microorganisms causing food borne diseases

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2019.03.079Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Essential oil of Campomanesia aurea O. Berg is inhibitor of L. monocytogenes biofilm.

  • Essential oil of Campomanesia aurea O. Berg can be used against food pathogens.

  • Essential oil of Campomanesia aurea O. Berg can be a promising source for bioprospection.

Abstract

Campomanesia aurea O. Berg is a native plant of the biome Pampa, which belongs to the family Myrtaceae. The present study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial and antibiofilme activity of the essential oil of Campomanesia aurea (EOCA) against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19114, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Salmonella enteritidis ATCC 13076 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. An analysis of the chemical composition of the EOCA was realized through gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The analysis for in vitro evaluation of the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity was realized by determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and that of the antibiofilm through utilization of 96-well plates with crystal violet, respectively. The action of standard (E)–nerolidol (major compound of the EOCA) was also tested. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of the sesquiterpene (E)-nerolidol (56.04%) as the main compound in the EOCA. Antimicrobial activity of the EOCA against L. monocytogenes (MIC 5.0 mg mL−1) and S. aureus (MIC 0.7 mg mL−1) was observed. Inhibition of biofilm formation against L. monocytogenes, S. aureus and S. enteritidis could be observed for EOCA and (E)-nerolidol. The results demonstrate that the EOCA was efficient against inhibition of biofilm formation for most of the tested pathogens.

Introduction

Food borne diseases (FBDs) are caused by ingestion of decayed food, contaminated by microorganisms, mainly harmful bacteria. Other bacteria, molds, viruses or parasites, beside natural toxins, chemical substances and physical agents can also provoke these diseases (Scallan et al., 2011). In some cases these diseases can become a serious danger for life, principally for children living in developing countries, followed by chronic sequels and disabilities. Their symptoms can vary from light to severe, including abdominal colic, nausea, vomit, dehydration, diarrhea and fever (Sharif, Javed, & Nasir, 2018). There are different contamination sources, as the soil, manipulation techniques, preparation of food, or preservation conditions of food storage. FBDs probably are a more frequent problem related to health, since pathogenic microorganisms possess the capacity to support various immunologic answers of the host (Kumar, Alam, Rani, Ehtesham, & Hasnain, 2017).

Bacterial contamination of food contact surfaces is an important factor for persistence of pathogens in food processing environments. Bacteria, causing FBDs can form spatially organized vibrant ecosystems within the food matrix, called biofilms, which may be the precursors of drug resistance and present challenges for infection control (Bridier et al., 2015; Frieri, Kumar, & Boutin, 2017). Prevention of biofilm formation and growth are essential to impede biological fouling and treatment of related infection (Zhang, Chen, Qiu, Dai, & Feng, 2019). The control of biofilm formation can be done through a variety of applications, as for example, avoidance of fouling in production systems (Xiong & Liu, 2010) or as alternative or coadjuvant therapy against bacterial infections (Brackman, Hillaert, Van Calenbergh, Nelis, & Coenye, 2009).

Many chemical disinfectants utilized in hygienization, as chlorine compounds, may imply particular risk to humans, because their reaction with organic matter produce toxic subproducts, beside being corrosive to industrial equipments (Fukuzaki, 2006; Meireles, Giaouris, & Simões, 2016). Thus, the search for alternatives for treatment and/or prevention of infections, also for those related to biofilms, is a highly topical issue, thus numerous studies are developed to tackle this challenge. Other alternatives, which encompass this aspect, were also applicated, as effect of bacterial antagonism (Ibarra-Sánchez, Van Tassell, & Miller, 2018), antimicrobial coating (Huang et al., 2017), or cold plasma (Coutinho et al., 2018). However, some disinfection techniques are not cost-friendly or require special technical capacitation. The antimicrobial activity of essential oils (EOs) and plant extracts against the most varied microorganisms has been investigated over the last years. EO came up as an important alternative, demonstrating great potential due to effective action against various bacterial pathogens, molds and viruses (Chouhan, Sharma, & Guleria, 2017; da Silva; Gündel et al., 2018; Farisa Banu et al., 2018; Manganyi, Regnier, & Olivier, 2015; Rodrigues et al., 2018; Sieniawska, Los, Baj, Malm, & Glowniak, 2013; Sun et al., 2018; Vetas, Dimitropoulou, Mitropoulou, Kourkoutas, & Giaouris, 2017; Zomorodian, Saharkhiz, Pakshir, Immeripour, & Sadatsharifi, 2018). EO are complex volatile components, which are naturally synthetized in different plant parts during the secondary metabolism. The efficiency of the essential oil depends on nature of the compound, composition and orientation of its functional groups (Swamy, Akhtar, & Sinniah, 2016). With advancement of technology, research about herbal medicines for identification of bioactive plant compounds in medicinal plants, which are responsible for its pharmacologic and biologic activity, has been intensified (Chan, Tan, Chan, Lee, & Goh, 2016). Their easy extraction, biodegradability and facile degradation within the environment, as well as no persistence in soil and water, low or absence of any toxicity against vertebrates and in addition performance of important protection functions in plants against pests, turn the use of EOs as very beneficial strategy against pathogens. Those properties enable application of EOs in sensitive areas, as schools, restaurants, hospitals and households (Batish, Singh, Kohli, & Kaur, 2008; Brooker & Kleinig, 2006).

Various studies already were realized utilizing EO of traditional medicinal plants (Ali-shtayeh et al., 2018; Armijos et al., 2018; Basak, 2018; Hashim, Almasaudi, Azhar, Al, & Harakeh, 2017). However, many locations with large plant diversity still were not evaluated regarding their biological potential. One of these locations is the biome Brazilian Pampa, which is a part of the great Pampa, covering half of the southern Brazilian state Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay and provinces in the north and northwest of Argentina. Rio Grande do Sul has an important agricultural and economical potential, which covers more than 60% of the total area of the state (Boldrini et al., 2010; IBGE, 2018). This biome possess high diversity and presents variations of leaf growth rates during the year (Behling, Jeske-Pieruschka, Schüler, & Pillar, 2009; Carvalho & Batello, 2009). Campomanesia aurea O. Berg is a native species of the biom Pampa, popularly known as “guabirobinha-do-campo” or “araçá-rasteiro”, and belong to the family Myrtaceae. This plant can be found in grassy areas or nearby bushes in southern Brazil, mainly in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil (Emer, Schafer, & Fior, 2018). Studies evidenced the biological potential of species belonging to the family Myrtaceae (da Silva et al., 2018; Nakamura, Monteiro, Bizarri, Siani, & Ramos, 2010; Neri-Numa et al., 2013; Seraglio et al., 2018), but up to date there are no related results about the species C. aurea evaluating the antimicrobial activity of its EO.

Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the composition, the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity in vitro of the essential oil of Campomanesia aurea (EOCA) and the activity of the major component of the oil alone, namely the (E)-nerolidol, against pathogenic microorganisms Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, known to cause foodborne diseases.

Section snippets

Plant material and (E)-nerolidol as a standard compound

A species of C. aurea was collected at the Pampa biome, in the Alegrete city, of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The plant species was identified and a specimen was archived in the Museum for Natural Sciences (Museu de Ciências Naturais, MCN) of the University of Taquari Valley – Univates, under the exsiccate number HVAT 4209. The leaves were collected in October of 2017. After collection, the leaves were washed, dried at room temperature and homogenized. The standard compound (E)-nerolidol

Results and discussion

Table 1 presents the composition of EOCA, where a total of 23 components could be identified. The major components were the sesquiterpenes (E)–nerolidol (56.04%) and α-cadinol (3.46%), monoterpenes α–pinene and β–pinene (4.16% and 3.39%, respectively), linalool (5.98%) and terpinolene (4.41%), amongst others.

According to the results presented in Table 1, the principal component of the EOCA was (E)-nerolidol, which is a sesquiterpene alcohol, naturally occurring in EO of various plants,

Conclusion

For the first time it could be shown, that the essential oil of Campomanesia aurea O. Berg has an efficient antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes and S. aureus, and moreover has the capacity to act as an inhibitor of biofilm formation against L. monocytogenes, S. aureus and S. enteritidis. The effect of the encountered main compound in the EOCA (E)-nerolidol, also was investigated. The antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of the EO of C. aurea can be associated at least to some

Conflicts of interest

No conflict of interest declared.

Acknowledgements

This study was partly financed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.

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