Abstract
Simple SummaryThe use of essential oils (EOs) in the food industry is a popular research topic, as they have antioxidant and antimicrobial activity and could be used as ingredients directly in food or as bioactive component in food coating and food packaging. Thus, the study of their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity is a crucial step to evaluate their use in food packaging/coating. In this work, we evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of 13 EOs from herbs, spices, fruits, and vegetables. Briefly, the EOs from aromatic herbs and spices showed the highest antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Fennel essential oil reported the lowest antioxidant activity, however it showed very good antimicrobial activity against Botrytis cinerea, one of the post-harvest pathogen microorganisms in fruits and vegetables.In the field of food preservation, encapsulated Essential Oils (EOs) could be the best non-toxic and eco-friendly tool for food preservative applications substituting the chemicals ones that have several disadvantages for the environment and health. Thirteen commercial EOs from plants, fruits, and vegetables were characterized by GC-MS. The antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH and ABTS techniques. Antimicrobial activity was assessed by agar well-diffusion method and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) by agar dilution method against six bacteria, Candida albicans, and Botrytis cinerea. All the EOs tested have demonstrated antioxidant activity in the range of IC50 0.01–105.32 mg/mL. Between them, cinnamon EOs were the best, followed by oregano and thyme EOs. Fennel EO showed the lowest radical scavenging. MIC values ranged from 0.14 to 9 mg/mL. C. cassia, thyme, and oregano EOs were the most effective against the bacterial species tested, and the yeast C. albicans. On the contrary, citric fruit EOs showed low or no inhibition against most bacterial strains. The percentages of inhibition of mycelia growth of B. cinerea ranged from 3.4 to 98.5%. Thyme, oregano, mint, and fennel EOs showed the highest inhibition.
Highlights
Introduction distributed under the terms andFood security is supported in four main pillars: food access, food utilization, food stability, and food preservation
Eugenol was the main compound in C. zeylanicum that was extracted from leaves; on the other hand, cinnamaldehyde was the first compound in C. cassia sample that was extracted from bark
Similar composition has been reported by Diniz do Nascimento et al [4]; as remarked by the same authors, the oregano essential oil composition is highly influenced by the part of the plant and the agronomic and technological processes
Summary
Food security is supported in four main pillars: food access, food utilization, food stability, and food preservation. The latter mainly consists of the degradation and microbial contamination that can affect food. They have often raised negative concerns to the consumers as they are not from a green source. They need long term degradation cycles, they are environmental toxicology and have potential risks of carcinogenesis and teratogenesis in humans and animals. The use of EOs in food industry is growing, as they could be directly added to edible products or used for active packaging and edible coatings [2]
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