Essential Oils in Vapour and Direct Contact Treatments for Controlling Mold Growth on Cheese

Abstract

Background: Natural preservatives are of immense importance to meet the rising demand for food with either little or no synthetic preservatives. This study has evaluated the inhibitory effect of cinnamaldehyde, citral and eugenol essential oil (EO) against mold growth on solid media and cheese in the vapour phase and contact treatments. Methods: The effect of EO at concentrations ranging from 0.06 to 0.25 µl/ml on radial growth of molds was examined. Further, the antifungal properties of vapors of EOs formulated into edible films at 1 to 5% were investigated using the microatmosphere method. Result: The application of EOs directly on the surface of cheese at 0.03 mg/cm2 caused the irreversible inhibition of molds as compared to the control. Both A. flavus and A. niger were sensitive to EO in contact treatments, but there was no significant difference between different EOs after 6 days. According to the results of vapour phase diffusion test cinnamaldehyde significantly suppressed the growth of A. flavus and A. niger on the solid medium and cheese surface at 25°C for 7 days storage. These findings suggest that constituents of EOs could be used as a possible substitute for antifungal chemicals to control mold growth on cheese.