Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of Four Plant Essential Oils against Some Food and Phytopathogens Isolated from Processed Meat Products in Egypt

Abstract

Synthetic preservatives are widely utilized by the food industry to inhibit the microbial contamination and increase food safety and shelf life. The excessive utilization of synthetic preservatives can have a negative impact on human health and the environment. There is a great interest to find out natural substances as possible food-preservatives. The consumers’ preference for food products with natural ingredients prompted food manufacturers to utilize natural-based preservatives in their production. It is worth noting that plant essential oils (EOs) among the natural-based substances have been efficiently used as antimicrobial agents against phyto- and food pathogens. The current study was conducted to evaluate the microbial contamination of three industrial meat products from five governorates in Egypt, identify the predominant bacterial and fungal isolates and determine the antimicrobial efficacy of some EOs (thyme, fennel, anise and marjoram) against the most predominant microbial isolates. A sensory test was also performed to estimate the customer preferences for specific organoleptic aspects of meat products after EOs treatment. Results showed that there is a promising antimicrobial activity of all studied EOs against some microbial isolates in a dose-dependent manner. In particular, thyme EO showed the highest significant antibacterial activity against P. fluorescence and E. coli. Whereas the marjoram EO showed the highest activity against P. aeruginosa. In addition, the sensory test revealed that the treatment with anise and marjoram EOs showed the highest acceptability by the testers and did not show significant differences on the organoleptic properties with respect to control. As overall, the obtained results of the current research are promising and proved feasibility of employing plant EOs as possible preservatives for processed meat products.

Impact of the Pre-Harvest Biocontrol Agent and Post-Harvest Massive Modified Atmosphere Packaging Application on Organic Table Grape (cv. ‘Allison’) Quality during Storage

“…Slight variations were observed but without any influence of the factors tested. This is in general agreement with the results of several studies conducted on different grape cultivars, such as Flame Seedless [23], which reported the MAP did not affect acidity, even with high %CO 2 (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40) in the headspace [38]. On the other hand, the titratable acidity of Thompson Seedless decreased after 30 and 60 days of storage in air at 1 • C [40].…”

“…For TBC analysis, 1 mL of previously prepared dilutions 10 −3 and 10 −5 were placed in a sterile Petri dish and about 15 mL of plate count agar media (Liofilchem, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy) was poured into the dish, and then incubated at 30 • C for 24 h [31]. Whereas, for TMC count one mL of previously prepared dilutions 10 −2 was placed in a sterile Petri dish and about 15 mL of PDA media was added, and then incubated at 22 ± 2 • C for 96-120 h under aerobic conditions [32]. The total bacteria (TBC) and mould (TMC) colonies in grapefruit samples were expressed as colony form units per millilitre (cfu/mL).…”

Antibacterial potential of essential oils extracted from three medicinal plants against some foodborne bacteria

“…Several EOs contain the very common cyclic monoterpene α-phellandrene, which exhibits a wide range of biological activity (Radice et al, 2022). The effectiveness and reduction of any pathogenic microorganism's resistance evolution are due to the synergism between the aromatic plant components (Elshafie et al, 2022). From our results, the investigated Gram-positive bacteria were found to be more sensitive to Eucalyptus essential oil than the tested Gram-negative.…”

Exploring the untapped potential of naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds: novel advancements in food preservation for enhanced safety and sustainability

“…Beyond their microbial-fighting attributes, these plant chemicals act as antioxidants, enhancing both color and flavor in plants. Applications of grape seed, oregano, clove, and cinnamon extracts have been reported to not only influence the color characteristics of food but also elevate its flavor profile (Baindara and Mandal, 2022;Coimbra et al, 2022;Elshafie et al, 2022;Khatri et al, 2023).…”

“…Despite advancements in research, the mechanisms of action of many natural antimicrobials remain incompletely understood (Elshafie et al, 2022). This lack of detailed understanding can hinder the precise control and optimization of these compounds for specific applications.…”