Essential Oils as Natural Food Antimicrobial Agents: A Review

Abstract

Food-borne illnesses pose a real scourge in the present scenario as the consumerism of packaged food has increased to a great extend. Pathogens entering the packaged foods may survive longer, which needs a check. Antimicrobial agents either alone or in combination are added to the food or packaging materials for this purpose. Exploiting the antimicrobial property, essential oils are considered as a "natural" remedy to this problem other than its flavoring property instead of using synthetic agents. The essential oils are well known for its antibacterial, antiviral, antimycotic, antiparasitic, and antioxidant properties due to the presence of phenolic functional group. Gram-positive organisms are found more susceptible to the action of the essential oils. Essential oils improve the shelf-life of packaged products, control the microbial growth, and unriddle the consumer concerns regarding the use of chemical preservatives. This review is intended to provide an overview of the essential oils and their role as natural antimicrobial agents in the food industry.

Antimicrobial Properties in Bark and Leaf Extracts of Four Cinnamomum Species

“…S. maltophilia was found to be sensitive to all the tested antibiotics. 17 Present work also showed that S. maltophilia was inhibited by many of the tested extracts giving highest diameter of zone of inhibition and statistically significant (p-0.005). E. coli tested in the study was resistant to Augmentin, which is in accord with those found in the studies.…”

Combined Effect of Cinnamon Essential Oil and Pomegranate Peel Extract on Antioxidant, Antibacterial and Physical Properties of Chitosan Films

“…PPE, pomegranate peel extract; CEO, cinnamon essential oil. properties against some bacteria and fungi (Vergis et al, 2015).…”

Contact, fumigant, and cytotoxic activities of thyme and lemongrass essential oils against larvae and an ovarian cell line of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni

“…Plant essential oils are the products obtained from hydrodistillation, steam distillation, dry distillation, or mechanical cold pressing of plants, mostly from plants belonging to just a few families including the Myrtaceae, Lauraceae, Lamiaceae, and Asteraceae (Regnault-Roger et al 2012). It has long been recognized that some essential oils possess Communicated by M. Traugott. biological activities including insecticidal, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antioxidant activities, as well as pharmaceutical and therapeutic potentials (Burt 2004;Isman 2006;Edris 2007;Bakkali et al 2008;Lang and Buchbauer 2012;Vergis et al 2013). More specifically on the bioactivity of essential oils in insects, their acute toxicity or repellent activity as well as chronic effects such as feeding deterrence, growth inhibition, or oviposition deterrence have been the major foci of the essential oil research (Regnault-Roger et al 2012).…”