Antimicrobial performance of methanol extract of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. as a sanitizer agent

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In food industry, microbial contamination poses a big challenge. Chemicals used for disinfection compromise food safety and therby health. ofThere is an urgent need for effective safe sanitizers for the inhibition of pathogens in agricultural and food products. In this context, here, we investigated the possibility of using the Foeniculum vulgare methanol extract (ME) in the fight against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans as natural a sanitizer agent candidate. The components of F. vulgare ME were analyzed by GC-MS. Broth microdilution method and Surface disinfection test were used for antimicrobial activity and logarithmic inhibition, respectively. The main substances were anethole (50.44%), estragole (13.59%) and benzoic acid (13.58%). Minimum ınhibitory concentrations (MICs) of F. vulgare were 0.1 g/mL for S. aureus and C. albicans while it was >0.1 g/mL for E. coli. In surface disinfection test which investigated the survival of E. coli, S. aureus and C. albicans exposure to F. vulgare sanitizer (F-SAN: 10%), F. vulgare at 50, 100 and 150 μL caused an almost 8-log reduction in E. coli in clean condition (0.3 g/mL BSA). In S. aureus, 150 μL of F. vulgare caused about 4.8 and 4.7 log reduction in clean and dirty surface (3 g/mL BSA), respectively. The highest colony reduction was in C. albicans with ˃4.93 log reduction in both environments. The results suggest that F. vulgare methanol extract could be a strong natural sanitizer against pathogens.