Comparative Analysis of In vitro Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Potential of Cinnamomum tamala Extract and their Essential Oils of Two Different Chemotypes

Abstract

Background: The essential oils of aromatic plants have wide range of biological applications. Natural food preservatives have been always a demanding for food industries in both developed and developing countries to prevent bacterial growth in food stuffs. Therefore, focused on Cinnamon leaves essential oils components against food pathogens have been investigated to confirm its potential use in food products. Methods: The antimicrobial activity of two Cinnamon leaves oils and extracts (T-2 and T-19) were examined by disc diffusion assay and the minimum inhibitory concentration by two-fold serial dilution method against foodborn pathogenic microorganisms i.e. E.coli (MTCC 723), B. Cereus (MTCC 430), S. aureus (MTCC 3381), S. typhi (MTCC 734) and C. perfringens (MTCC 1349). The antioxidant activity of both essential oils and extract was determined by DPPH assay. The chemical profiling of Cinnamon essential oils were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Result: The antimicrobial activity of both Cinnamon leaves oils and extract were evaluated by disc diffusion assay and it showed that in essential oils and extracts exhibited the highest zone of inhibition (ZOI) against S. aureus and E.coli. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of both oils and extracts ranged from 0.156 mg/ml to 5mg/ml and the antioxidant properties of oils and extract of cinnamaldehyde type Cinnamon possessed the highest antioxidant activity than linalool type. The chemical constituent of Cinnamon oil was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed that T-2 contains cinnamaldehyde (75%) and T-19 contains Linalool (63.77%) were found as major constituents. Therefore the results shows that essential oil of cinnamaldehyde type Cinnamon could be a potential rich source of natural antioxidants and also more effective against food borne pathogens than linalool type and could be used as natural antibacterial agents in food preservation.