Investigation of antimicrobial effects of zinc-based nanoparticles on food-borne pathogens

Abstract

In this study, the antimicrobial effects of three different zinc-based nanoparticles, namely zinc oxide (ZnO), zinc chloride (ZnCl2), and zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4), on food-borne pathogen were investigated. ZnO and ZnCl2 nanoparticles were obtained as commercially, but ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles were produced via sol-gel auto-combustion method. From the XRD results of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticle, it was found that all the peaks agreed with the literature. However, there was also small amount of the secondary phase peaks corresponding to the ferrite (Fe2O3) phases. Significant differences were observed between the inhibition effects of nanoparticles on bacteria in the disc diffusion method (p<0.005), except for the ZnFe2O4 nanoparticle, which has no effect on bacteria at the used dose. ZnO nanoparticle was observed to have the lowest inhibition zone on the Gram-negative bacterium Campylobacter jejuni of inhibition compared to other test bacteria. It was found that ZnFe2O4 had the highest value of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against Gram-negative bacteria.