Abstract
Utilization of essential oils (EOs) as antimicrobial agents against foodborne disease has gained importance, for their use as natural preservatives. Since potential interactions between EOs and food characteristics may affect their antimicrobial properties, the present work studies the influence of fat, protein, pH, aw and food additives on the antimicrobial effect of oregano and garlic EOs against Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. Results showed that protein, pH, aw, presence of beef extract, sodium lactate and nitrates did not influence their antimicrobial effect. In contrast, the presence of pork fat had a negative effect against both EOs associated with their dilution of the lipid content. The addition of food phosphates also exerts a negative effect against EOs probably associated with their emulsification properties as observed with the addition of fat. The results may help the food industry to select more appropriate challenges to guarantee the food safety of foodstuffs.
Highlights
Use of essential oils (EOs) as flavoring agents by the food industry is common
Some works studied the influence of food composition on the antimicrobial effect of EOs in specific foodstuffs [5], the present work is, to the best knowledge of the authors, the first report that studied the influence of food composition and food additives commonly present in meat products
The large inhibition halos observed for L. monocytogenes for EOs of garlic and oregano were in accordance with the low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values
Summary
Use of essential oils (EOs) as flavoring agents by the food industry is common. Their antimicrobial properties against foodborne pathogens have increased their interest as a source of natural preservatives [1,2]. The antimicrobial effect of EOs is different in foodstuffs than in in vitro studies [5]. The present work is aimed at studying the influence of fat and protein levels, different pH and aw and the presence of sodium nitrite, commercial phosphates and sodium lactate on the inhibitory properties of oregano and garlic EOs against Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes isolated from meat products
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