Towards understanding the antagonistic activity of phytic acid against common foodborne bacterial pathogens using a general linear model.

Ines Boukhris,Hichem Chouayekh,Slim Smaoui,Othman A Alghamdi,Nawres Morjene,Ameny Farhat-Khemakhem,Karim Ennouri,Monia Blibech,Filippo Giarratana

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0231397

Ines Boukhris, Hichem Chouayekh + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231397

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Abstract

The increasing challenge of antibiotic resistance requires not only the discovery of new antibiotics, but also the development of new alternative approaches. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated for the first time the antibacterial potential of phytic acid (myo-inositol hexakisphosphate, IP6), a natural molecule that is 'generally recognized as safe' (FDA classification), against the proliferation of common foodborne bacterial pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Typhimurium. Interestingly, compared to citric acid, IP6 was found to exhibit significantly greater inhibitory activity (P<0.05) against these pathogenic bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration of IP6 varied from 0.488 to 0.97 mg/ml for the Gram-positive bacteria that were tested, and was 0.244 mg/ml for the Gram-negative bacteria. Linear and general models were used to further explore the antibacterial effects of IP6. The developed models were validated using experimental growth data for L. monocytogenes, S. aureus and S. Typhimurium. Overall, the models were able to accurately predict the growth of L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, and S. Typhimuriumin Polymyxin acriflavine lithium chloride ceftazidime aesculin mannitol (PALCAM), Chapman broth, and xylose lysine xeoxycholate (XLD) broth, respectively. Remarkably, the early logarithmic growth phase of S. Typhimurium showed a rapid and severe decrease in a period of less than one hour, illustrating the bactericidal effect of IP6. These results suggest that IP6 is an efficient antibacterial agent and can be used to control the proliferation of foodborne pathogens. It has promising potential for environmentally friendly applications in the food industry, such as for food preservation, food safety, and for prolonging shelf life.

Highlights

Food safety is an important public health priority
We found that the IP6 minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged from 0.244 to 0.976 mg/ml, while the citric acid (CA) MIC ranged from 1.25 to 2.5 mg/ml
For the Gram-negative bacteria, the IP6 MICs were reduced by at least 50%, while the CA MIC remained the same as that observed for S. aureus ATCC 6538 (1.25 mg/ ml)

Summary

Introduction

Food safety is an important public health priority. Each year, around a third of the world population is infected by foodborne pathogens [1, 2]. The infection is mainly linked to the consumption of contaminated ready-to-eat foods, such as cheese and other dairy products, processed meats, salads, seafood, and raw eggs [8, 9]. Another bacterium, S. aureus, which belongs to the Gram-positive Micrococcaceae family, is considered to be one of the most common causes of foodborne disease in the world [10]. Salmonella is considered to be among the most common foodborne pathogens [17] It causes Salmonellosis, a disease that is linked to the consumption of contaminated meats, especially poultry products [17]. This disease is responsible for the largest number of hospitalizations and deaths due to foodborne pathogens [18]

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