Mastitis is considered to be one of the most important diseases of dairy cows in terms of health, production, and economy. Being the most common cause of antibiotic consumption in dairy cows, treatment of this disease is one of the biggest challenges in the veterinary profession as an increasing number of pathogens develop resistance to antibiotics used in the treatment. Therefore, new alternative approaches for limiting the use of antibiotics in livestock are required. For this reason, our study aimed to investigate prevalence of environmental mastitis associated bacterial strains, as well as the sensitivity of isolated strains to different antibiotics. Additionally, the therapeutic potential of three essential oils (EOs) was tested against bovine Serratia spp. and Proteus spp. mastitis pathogens, based on their chemical composition, as well as antibacterial potential. The study was carried out on 81 milk samples collected from dairy cows with mastitis. In order to determine prevalence of S. marcescens and P. mirabilis, microbiological isolation and identification were performed. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by disk diffusion method and the microdilution method was used to determine the antibacterial activity of selected EOs. In the oregano EO, a total of 23 compounds were detected, with carvacrol as a dominant component (78.94%). A total of 26 components were present in the EO of common thyme, where thymol was the most abundant compound (46.37%). Thymol also dominated (55.11%) the wild thyme EO. All tested EOs displayed antibacterial activity against all strains to different extents, while wild and common thyme EOs were the most effective. It could be concluded that the tested EOs represent promising therapeutic candidates for effective non-antibiotic treatment of mastitis.

No abstract

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites of fungi that contaminate a large variety of foods and have toxic effects on humans. The best protection against mycotoxins is to monitor their presence in food. This paper shows the screening results of mycotoxins present in 76 samples of different groups of grain foods. Samples of grain food were analyzed for contamination with aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, fumonisins and deoxynivalenol. Analysis were conducted using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). None of the samples was contaminated with aflatoxins. The most predominant mycotoxin was ochratoxin A with the mean level of 4.84 ± 4.49 ppb in 19.7% of the examined samples. Zearalenone, fumonisins, and deoxynivalenol were found in 9.21, 14.5 and 3.9% of the samples, respectively. Mycotoxin content in the investigated samples was compared with the regulations of Serbia and those of the European Union

No abstract

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation" call I "Ecosystem resilience increased" project "Impacts of invasive alien species and climate change on marine ecosystems in Estonia; Erasmus+ Development of master curricula in ecological monitoring and aquatic bioassessment for Western Balkans,

Due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the risk it represents to public health, and the possible consequences for animal health and welfare, there is an increasing focus on reducing antimicrobial usage (AMU) in animal husbandry. Therefore, a great interest in developing alternatives to AMU in livestock production is present worldwide. Recently, essential oils (EOs) have gained great attention as promising possibilities for the replacement of antibiotics. The current study aimed to test the potential of using a novel EO-based pharmaceutical formulation (Phyto-Bomat) in bovine mastitis treatment. The antibacterial activity was performed using the microdilution technique. Lactating dairy cows were treated with 15 mL of Phyto-Bomat in the inflamed quarter for 5 consecutive days in order to analyze blood and milk samples for thymol and carvacrol residues using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Antimicrobial activity expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) indicates that this formulation has the highest activity against Gram-positive strains. The dominant compounds in Phyto-Bomat were thymol and carvacrol, at 12.58 ± 1.23 mg/mL and 23.11 ± 2.31 mg/mL, respectively. The quantification of these two compounds in evaluated biological samples showed that 24 h after administration the concentration of thymol and carvacrol in milk samples was at the same level as before application. On the other hand, thymol and carvacrol were detectable in plasma samples even after 24 h post-treatment, with values ranging from 0.15–0.38 and 0.21–0.66 µg/mL, respectively. The tested formulation showed encouraging results of antibacterial activity against bovine mastitis pathogens, as well as the withdrawal period of dominant compounds, which implies that further testing regarding the bacteriological and clinical cure rates in clinical settings is needed.

No abstract

Aromatic plants are one of the most important sources of biologically active secondary metabolites, which possess various antimicrobial characteristics. The aim of this work was to examine the effect of antifungal activities of mint and caraway essential oils against the selected fungi. Eight species of molds were selected for antifungal testing: Alternaria alternata, Aspegillus flavus, A. niger, A. versicolor, Eurotium herbariorum, Penicillium aurantiogriseum, P. chrysogenum and P. expansum. Testing of essential oils antifungal activity against the selected species was conducted using the disc diffusion method by adding mint and caraway essential oils (0.5, 1, 5, and 10 µl per disc). Antifungal activity of essential oils was expressed by the diameter of inhibition zone (mm). The most powerful effect of mint essential oil was recorded against E. herbariorum, as its growth was completely inhibited by the quantity of 5 µl. The weakest inhibitory effect was observed against P. chrysogenum (inhibition zone 13.67 mm) by the quantity of 10 µl. The most powerful antifungal activity of caraway was observed against E. herbariorum as growth was completely inhibited by the quantity of 10 µl. The weakest inhibitory effect was observed against A. niger (inhibition zone 28 mm) by the quantity of 10 µl.