Aims:  To investigate the antibacterial mechanism of carvacrol and thymol against Escherichia coli. Methods and Results:  The time‐kill curve results showed that carvacrol and thymol at 200 mg l−1 could inhibit the growth of E. coli. Flow cytometry and fluorescent dyes were used to explore the effect of two components on membrane permeability and membrane potential. In membrane permeability experiment, the mean fluorescence intensity of cells treated with 200 mg l−1 carvacrol or thymol were lower than nonexposed cells. The ratio of red to green fluorescence intensity of DiOC2(3) reflected the change of membrane potential. Carvacrol and thymol at 200 mg l−1 caused the ratio of red/green decreasing from 0·42 of control to 0·08 and 0·07, respectively. Conclusions:  Carvacrol and thymol had desired antimicrobial effect on E. coli. The antibacterial effects were attributed to their ability to permeabilize and depolarize the cytoplasmic membrane. Significance and Impact of the Study:  This study showed the potential use of flow cytometry as a suitable method to investigate the mode of antibacterial action of essential oil components.

In this study, the antibacterial activities of eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, thymol, carvacrol, and their combinations against E. coli were investigated separately. First, broth macro-dilution assay was adopted to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the 4 components. Second, the combination testing was performed using chequerboard method. Finally, the combined effects were evaluated with an improved method, which was based on the indices of fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) and Effect of the Combination (EC) jointly. The results indicated that MICs of the 4 components were 1600, 400, 400, and 400 mg/L, respectively; treatments with cinnamaldehyde/eugenol, thymol/eugenol, carvacrol/eugenol, and thymol/carvacrol revealed synergistic effects according to the 2 indices. By means of combination, MICs of eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, thymol, and carvacrol decreased to 400, 100, 100, and 100 mg/L, respectively. Consequently, the negative impacts of unpleasant smell of these 4 components could be minimized, making it possible to add them to foods as preservatives. In addition, this improved evaluation method provided a more accurate and comprehensive way to evaluate combined effects.

To identify synergistic combinations of different food additives, the antimicrobial effects of thymol and carvacrol against Salmonella Typhimurium were assessed alone and in combination with various other preservatives including EDTA, acetic acid, lactic acid, and citric acid. Overall, growth of Salmonella Typhimurium was significantly inhibited in Mueller-Hinton broth containing thymol, carvacrol, EDTA, acetic acid, lactic acid, or citric acid at concentrations of 400 mg/liter, 400 microl/liter, 300 mg/liter, 0.2% (vol/vol), 0.2% (vol/vol), and 0.2% (wt/vol), respectively. The combination of different antimicrobials such as thymol or carvacrol with EDTA, thymol or carvacrol with acetic acid, and thymol or carvacrol with citric acid all resulted in significantly reduced populations of Salmonella Typhimurium. In samples treated with combinations, these antimicrobials had synergistic effects compared with samples treated with thymol, carvacrol, EDTA, acetic acid, or citric acid alone. However, the combined use of lactic acid with thymol or carvacrol did not produce a synergistic effect against Salmonella Typhimurium. Thus, some chelators or organic acids can be used as food preservatives in combination with thymol and carvacrol to reduce the concentrations needed to produce an adequate antimicrobial effect.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of cinnamaldehyde, thymol and carvacrol alone or their combinations against Salmonella Typhimurium. The results showed that the lowest concentrations of cinnamaldehyde, thymol and carvacrol inhibiting the growth of S. Typhimurium significantly were 200, 400 and 400 mg/L, respectively. In a system combining different antimicrobials, treatments with cinnamaldehyde/thymol, cinnamaldehyde/carvacrol and thymol/carvacrol revealed significantly less population of S. Typhimurium and had synergy effect compared with samples treated with cinnamaldehyde, thymol or carvacrol alone. By means of their paired combinations, the lowest addition of cinnamaldehyde, thymol and carvacrol could be decreased from 200, 400 and 400 mg/L to 100, 100 and 100 mg/L, respectively.

The effect of fermentation on nitrate, nitrite and organic acid contents in pickled Chinese cabbage and brine was researched. The nitrate content in pickled Chinese cabbage decreased from 1,303.5 and 1,380.5 mg/kg to 245.7 and 354.9 mg/kg, respectively, during the natural and inoculated fermentation. The peak content of nitrite was formed in pickled vegetables and brine during the natural fermentation. The nitrite was at a low level in pickled Chinese cabbage and brine during the inoculated fermentation. During the 7‐day natural fermentation, lactic acid increased from 22.4 to 3,117.3 mg/kg, acetic acid increased from 32.9 to 254.6 mg/kg and citric acid increased from 8.3 to 255.8 mg/kg, and the responding results were 27.9 to 3,559.9 mg/kg, 40.5 to 572.1 mg/kg and 13.4 to 268.0 mg/kg, respectively, during the inoculated fermentation. When the pH of the brine was lower than 4.5, the peak content of nitrite gradually decreased. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Pickle is a traditional Chinese fermented vegetable product. It has been widely consumed in China for many centuries. In many families, the homemade pickle is popular. There are also hundreds of industrial pickle‐processing factories. It is necessary to focus on the quality of the pickle. The research presented in this paper showed that during the pickle processing, the peak content of nitrite that formed far exceeded the limit value of the nitrite content recommended by the World Health Organization. This research can be a guide for pickle processing both in families and in factories.