Antimicrobial, Antioxidant and Antibiofilm Potential of Peppermint (Mentha piperita) Essential Oil for Application in Meat Products

Abstract

The current study was carried out to examine in-vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant and antibiofilm efficacy of Peppermint essential oil (PEO) for its potential application in meat products. Antimicrobial activity was measured by using zone inhibition assay (ZOI) and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) against ten food borne pathogens including four Gram-positive viz. Listeria monocytogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus and six Gram-negative viz. Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, Klebsiella pneumonia, Shigella flexneri, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa whereas antioxidant assay was measured using 1, 1 diphenyl-2 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2-2-azinobis-3 ethylbenthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activity. Maximum zone size was observed for Proteus mirabilis whereas, MIC values ranged from 5000-20000 ppm for all tested organisms. The oil was found to be more effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. Antibiofilm activity (%) was also performed against pure cultures of two pathogens i.e. Listeria monocytogenes and Proteus mirabilis as positive control. The results exhibited that with application of PEO, biofilm formation of both Listeria monocytogenes and Proteus mirabilis was inhibited by 45.80% and 73.01%, respectively in contrast to their respective controls. ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activity of PEO was measured at five different concentrations and values were ranging from 17.24–49.07% for ABTS whereas 35.16–60.70% for DPPH under investigation. It can be concluded that peppermint essential oil possesses potent antimicrobial, antioxidant and antibiofilm activity and can be further used as a natural alternative for preservation in meat industry.